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deeglebeegles
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Name: Denise
Birthday: 3/18/1980
Gender: Female
Interests: spanish, books, ocean, water sports, friends, love, travel
Expertise: sleeping
Occupation: Consulting
Industry: Banking/Finance
Message: message meEmail: email me
Member Since:
9/12/2004
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| A much better mousetrapAlistair and I have had a small, unwanted houseguest for about a week now. I first saw the little guy in the living room, peeking out from the arm of the far couch (which is never sat upon). He has also been leaving us little presents in the kitchen on the counter by our bottle collection. And yesterday while I was cramming last-minute for my statistics final at about 6am, I heard some commotion behind our cupboard unit.
We've discussed what to do about him -- you can't let a mouse stay in your home for long, or soon you will have many mice, and they can be destructive. But we didn't want to kill him with a trap and we'd heard that the "friendly" traps that simply catch them in a box don't really work.
So Alistair went onto the internet with a mission -- and found the best mouse trapping idea ever. It works like this:
- Place an empty paper towel cardboard roll on the edge of a shelf, so that half of it is on the counter and half is hanging over
- Place a tall trash can directly under the empty paper towel roll with towels or rags at the bottom
- Put some peanut butter inside the roll, at the end that's hanging over the trash can
Mice are curious animals, they love tunnels, and they love peanut butter.
This morning we awoke to see that the paper towel roll was no longer on the countertop. Sure enough, we have a cute tiny little brown mouse in the bottom of our trash can, hiding among the towels (we also put some tortillas in there so he has some food). It worked brilliantly. Now all we have to do is decide where to drive him and drop him off.
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| Ah, college memories...I am cleaning the apartment today in anticipation of Alistair's return from 2 weeks in Chile, and I happened across a list that we 5 female roommates had kept in our senior-year apartment of all funny things said within its walls. So this entry may only have meaning for you girls, but it was too good not to share. In no particular order:
-Public transportation is for losers and Europeans. (Nick A)
-Fun, persistence, energy, abs, fitness!! (Maribee and Sharebear)
-I just feel slightly blue-balled. It's sad. (Joannabus)
-Debris, no tongue! (Maribee)
-Cigarettes have a certain abrasive consistency that makes me feel at home. (Joannabus)
-That is OUT like yesterday's trash! Oh wait, I'm on trash this week...make that like last week's trash! (Maribee)
-That's NOT what I'm saying, that I want to get into this crazy bitch's pants! (Zach)
-I was a vegan, level 5. (what's that?) You can't eat anything that casts a shadow. (Jon the Wanderer)
-Wait, why is it 6:10?? Oh, it's upside down!! (Sharebear, scrutinizing her watch with a bewildered expression)
-That ice cream reminds me of something. Not ice cream, but pumpkin or seafood or something...(Emma)
-I reject that "the shit" thing. (Deniseypooh)
-Look! I'm a flamingo!! (Sharebear, on one leg)
-Ignore me, I'm on crack. (Deniseypooh) And you didn't give us some?? (Emma)
-I eat too many desserts and I don't even *like* sneakers. (Sharebear)
-With me, I may be a little weird but there's no reason for FEAR (Maribee)
-Tell him I've been blinded in one eye by a wayward sparrow (Amal)
-It's a good thing you're not gay and you don't live in Cuba (Emma)
-I love white people! (Sharebear)
-My housemates are hard core! Taking shots of celery!! (Maribee)
-Is this pee-not no-eer for me? No, it's pee-not no-IR becasue I just dropped my IR major! How'd she know? (Zach)
-There's something about synthesizers that's just so...comforting. (Deniseypooh)
-My parmalat is leaking! (Sharebear) Now it's parmalittle! (Joannabus)
-I don't think I knew what sex was until 7th grade. (Sharebear) We figured it out in 6th grade, when people started getting pregnant (Emma)
-Potential thesis topic! I would like to make a recommendation to the WTO regarding circumcision policy in developing countries. Therefore I would need to examine a wide range of penii. (Maribee)
-You're never going to grow up. You're like the female Peter Pan (Amal, to Denise)
-I don't like sleeping, it's stupid. I only have one week left! (Elise)
-Nighttime Maribee is out in full force. (Deniseypooh). She's not retarded, she's just rhyming. (Maribee)
-It's been so long...I'm starved for animal love. (Emma)
-If you were a toddler, we could play fun games with this. (Maribee, ducking behind the bar for peek-a-boo)
-Count your lucky chickens. (Amal)
-Fairy. As in fairy godmother, not the guy who wears big dresses. (Amal)
-I'm not naive!! I save dolphins! (Deniseypooh)
-Oooh, I love it when you talk nerdy (Amal)
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| I went home to Cali for my sister's graduation a couple of weekends ago. I stretched the traditional 2-day weekend to 5 (I'm heading off to grad school soon, so I can do things like that now). The nicest part was having a relaxing (read: no holiday stress) time and seeing a bunch of aunts/uncles/cousins/friends.
I don't quite remember how it came up, but we were talking about my mom's engagement ring. I had remembered it being clunky and very ugly -- I had it in my mind that the setting was pewter (it's actually antiqued white gold). She upgraded a very long time ago, so we have no memory of seeing her wear this ring during our childhoods. She dug it out of a closet while I was home to prove that it is, in fact, quite beautiful. And it is. It's from the early 70s, and I think "unique" is an appropriate description. But she'll never wear it again -- she doesn't even wear the upgraded one since my dad died -- and this one no longer fits her.
But it fit me perfectly. And she gave it to me (said it would make her happy to see it being worn).
I wear it on my right hand (though I had to put it on my left for the picture since I can only take a non-blurry photo with my right hand).
In a very girly, fascinated-by-the-sparkle sort of way, I thoroughly enjoy wearing it. (I think this might constitute early signs of a biological clock). I love it too because it is the symbolic start of my family; my dad chose it when he was about five years younger than I am now. And he's no longer here to tell how, or why, or what it makes him think of. I'll never hear his side of the proposal story. But I can wear this ring and feel connected.
I just have to be excrutiatingly careful so that it is never lost, stolen, or damaged. I don't think I've ever valued a physical object like this. I consider it the most precious thing in my possession. | | |
| I don't like coming home for Christmas. I look forward to it, but once I get here I realize that I wish I were somewhere else. Anywhere else.
I find myself depressed. Orange County is depressing, my family (minus one for 5 Christmases now) is too; even meeting up with my high school friends yesterday and today put me in a funk. I think I would be happier if I just stayed somewhere else and refused to acknowledge that I ever had a past.
People out here have gotten engaged, married, and pregnant. It's nice and warm. The family friends are still all gossiping about the same things. My family still argues. There is an oppressive feeling of superficiality. It's supposed to be a time to connect with people and I feel more isolated and foreign than ever. We don't really have anything to do. The four of us went to a late Mexican lunch at our favorite place, then while my brother stayed home, the other three went to a bad holiday movie (which I picked, thinking it would be light and funny, when it was actually bad and depressing and made me cry). Now we're all back home. I'm in my room, wondering if my inability to reach Alistair on the phone is intentional on his part. My family is in the other room watching some special on the soldiers in Iraq. I hear southern accents. We're killing time. Extended family will come over tomorrow, and we'll open presents and eat too much. There's no meaning in any of it. We have the same conversations over and over; everyone is "proud" of me, everyone asks if I plan to move back to California. I pretend that I like my job and that I'm excited to be applying to grad school. In fact I wonder if there is a reason behind the fact that I haven't been able to finish 4 essays in over 5 months.
My heart, which has been pretty quiet over the past couple of weeks (coinciding with my completion of the year's serious work projects), was really bad last night as I tried to go to sleep.
My bonus comes at the end of January. What if I just stopped going to work and blew off grad school apps? Could I just hunker down somewhere and live off the lump of cash while trying to figure out what makes me happy? I'm afraid the answer might take me somewhere far away and by myself, if I can even come up with an answer.
How does everyone else figure out what to do? | | |
| Yikes, my last entry was in mid-October...I'm still working on b-school essays, but I'm almost done. That makes 5 months now. I am such a retard. But there have been distractions -- big projects at work, new alternative physical therapies for my back, Christmas shopping, etc.
Speaking of Christmas shopping, I have a question: if you find something really neat that a lot of people you know would like, is it cheating to buy several of the same item and give them to different people on your list? Granted, it's not the same as searching through piles and piles of consumer crap to find the one gem that befits each special someone in your life, but honestly, if I have three friends/family members who would really get a kick out of the Lomographic Pop 9 Camera, is there anything wrong with getting three? Similarly, I know several people who have not yet been introduced to the joys of Settlers of Catan. Can I stock up on those too?
Yes, these strategies also serve to cut my shopping time way down, but if, in the end, I am able to get really neat (if not unique) gifts for people, where's the harm? I guess it would be wise to spread the duplicate gifts among people who don't talk to or know each other, just in case.
Thoughts? | | |
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