At Long Long Last

We start moving in to our new apartment tommorow! I can't express the relief I will feel at having my own stuff, and kitties, nearby. It's been okay here, there haven't been any roommate snafus, and we seem to have a bathroom schedule down pretty well. It's just cramped, and there is an incredibly adorable, incredibly sweet girl who is thinking about renting out B.'s room, so I don't worry so much about leaving the boys in the dust. They'll be juuuuuuuust fine.

Yesterday I had an appointment with one of the nicer (and busier - holy cow) temp agencies up here. I've been temping for quite a few years now, so it was interesting to see that the interview process was much much more rigorous, much more selective, and the testing was a bit more advanced. I still did awesome on my tests, but I actaully had to sit there and think (can you imagine?) about what I was doing, as oppossed to the tests they give in SC, that I can breeze through with my eyes closed and have a perfect score (I'm talking to you, Addeco). Also the insurance benefits available to Temps in SC are, let's face it, nonexistant. When I temped through Snelling, you had to have so many thousands of work hours accumulated before you even qualified for insurance, how awful is that? At one point I despaired over the hole I was in, making too much money for Medicaid (a whopping 8 bucks an hour) and not enough to afford the high premiums the agency's carrier charged. Here it is TOTALLY different, I can enroll now and recieve my benfits in 60 days, and the premiums for health, dental, and short-term disability are super affordable.

This past weekend Tolbs came up to visit B. and see his new car. (B. just got a new car 2 weeks ago, I'm now driving the Purple Minivan, aka the Purple Blur, aka The Peeb. I Love It.) I had heard that Tolbs, who must be something like 6'3" and 160 lbs (he's a lanky guy) was one of the fastest eaters ever. BAL-ONEY, I said. I have always been the fastest eater I know, which I know is not something most folks would necessarily Brag about, but there you go. We went to the Twin Cities Grill where I had the brilliant Idea to challenge Tolbs to a Steak-Off. He got the Porterhouse, i got the Prime Rib, both 20 ounce steaks. I was starving so I figured I would wolf it down in no time. He was done with his when I was just over half finished. So yes, Andy...you DO own me at steak eating. But just wait until I make Kebobs! I will surely even the score!

In any case, I almost made myself sick and vowed that the next time I eat a $25 steak, I'm going to enjoy it, dammit.

Here are some pics I've taken recently...





My B. Playing World of Warcraft with no shirt on. RAWOR.





Sea Glass that myself, B. and his sisters helped me find on the North Shore. It is sooooo beautiful there, next time we're up I'm going to remember the camera, dammit!





I have once again succumbed to The Sims. *twitch*

Last Night Pics

So I am now able to get out of bed without sneezing all over myself, which means it's time for a job! My days of leisurely playing The Sims is OVAH. Wish me luck, I need the money. My vet bill (just the check-up & shots, not including boarding) is so high I don't know when I'll be able to get my kitties out of hock.

Any old who, Kate sent me some photos of our last night out...hope ya'll enjoy.



From L to R, Tony, Kate, Marc, Tara, Me.




I look so transcendental.




Me and my friend Marc, who says "WHAAW!" Mike Ness-Style.

Yeeeah, sorry...

Looks like one of B.'s bad habits (not posting often enough) is already rubbing off on me. The past week has gone by in a whirl. I celebrated my arrival in The land of 10K lakes by promptly getting a cold. Which I still have. So If I have not called you, I'm very very sorry. It's not that I'm not thinking about you, because I AM. I've just been sick, and I'll have to get a new cell provider, Alltell gets zero reception up here.

But I love you all and miss you all and will talk to you very soon!

Lots to tell. Well, Some to tell. Okay...mere scraps to tell. Stay tuned.

Mwah.

Wandering...

So this week I made my emotional goodbyes to family, friends, car, home and assorted possesions and make the trek up to Minnesota. Just me, my dad, two cats and all of my earthly fortune. We set off monday morning, and stopped monday afternoon. In a traffic jam. For three hours.

Damn you, Chemical Spill!!!

Eventually we made our way up to my brother's place in Knoxville, where he took me to work with him at WUTK "The Rock". I got to pick out a song for his show (Autolux: Turnstile Blues) and squeak a hello over the air. I also pillaged the freebie cabinet, pirate-style.

Tuedsay we set out from Tennessee, which was by far the most pleasant part of the trip, the portion from Knoxville up into Kentucky. We passed by the Original, first ever, KFC...which I quickly dismissed as a dinner option.

Indianapolis was unremarkable, other than parts of it smelled a lot like sweetgrass.

Rural Illinois...what can I say? Flat, Farmy, and after hours on end of flat and farmy, Grueling.

Wisconsin was actually quite pretty in a very Winslow Homer sort of way. We stopped at a huge wall of rock that as it turns out, was an Island in what used to be a glacial lake. We saw lots of cows, Buffalo (!) and HOLY CRAP the Deer are HUGE here. They make the Deer found in SC look dwarfy.

I crossed the Mississippi river for the first time that I can remember when we travelled through the Twin Cities, and with the perfectly cool, sunny weather it would have been an ideal arrival, except that we arrived right in the middle of
Rush Hour. I was suddenly glad I sold my car.

My dad and brother and B. managed to get all my stuff in a 5 x 10 storage space in like...less than an hour. My dad and brother took off right after, heading back south. I was sad to see them go, but I feel better now that I am here. The cats are currently boarding at a really great facility that lets me come visit every day until we get into our apartment. Now, unbelieveably...I'm going to wash B.'s clothes and make his dinner. It sounds revolting, I know. But he's at work and there is little else to do. Besides, I miss cooking at the moment. It will give me the feeling that everything is still somewhat normal. Of course I'm making southern food.

What did you expect?

And Oh! How the mighty did fall!

Going through some old school papers, I found an article that I had saved from many, many years ago (way back in those dark ages known as "the 90's") entitled Working Our Nerves: Those Stupid Frigging Mentos Commercials.




Holy crap! An old article from the back page of Sassy Magazine! JOY!!!

I attribute so much of my individuality to reading Sassy in those formative teenaged years. Sassy, unlike it's fluffy counterparts YM and Seventeen, encouraged political and critical thinking, creativity, and individual style. In the pages of Sassy you could find articles about Gay teens, The Ecology of the Amazonian Rainforests, Reader fiction, the Zine of the month, and so on and so on. I don't ever recall seeing a single diet plan (in fact, one of the most hilarious articles was a staff sampling of various junk foods), or tips on how to win a boyfriend. Sassy treated its readers, us teenaged girls, as intelligent young people capable of thinking of something other than what to wear to prom.

And the music! Don't even get me started. If not for Sassy, I never would have known about The Lemonheads, Superchunk, Juliana Hatfield and Shonen Knife were. I never would have thought of Iggy Pop or Mike D of the Beastie Boys capable of giving sound advice in the "Dear Boy" monthly column, and I never would have picked up a Poppy Z. Brite book (not that I still read Ms. Brite, but I do admit how important her writing was when it came to the way I read) and I would not have known about places like CBGB.

That was until March 1995. I hadn't gotten an issue in 3 months and was starting to get PISSED, I had just renewed my subscription for another year. When it finally arrived, I was at first confused, then crestfallen, then furious. My beloved Sassy was gone forever. Still alive in Name only, the magazine had been sold to a Los Angeles Publishing company who were also to blame for Teen magazine, of which I only ever bought ONE issue in my entire teenage years. Nervous at pressure from advertisers who found Sassy to be a bit too cutting-edge for teenage girls (god forbid we don't have someone telling us how to think) the entire publication was "revamped" from cover to cover. Evan Dando, Sonic Youth and Cowboy Fashion were booted out in favor of Quizzes about which celebrity you were meant to date and how to cure your zits. I still shake my fist over this from time to time, though it's nothing compared to my outrage at the time. The remainder of my subscription would promptly go from mailbox to trash can, and I felt a sick relief when the magazine folded soon after.

To see why Sassy was so great, I suggest checking out Sissy, which is the last issue of Sassy, scrapped when the magazine was sold. Also check out Lisa Jervis' Salon.com Article on the Death of Sassy and Why Sassy made Irene Dispatch Flush Glamour.

That's my two cents.

Almost Done!

I am ex.haus.ted. I've had enough cardboard, newspapers, brooms and trashbags to last me through the rest of the year.

When you move, you re-discover things you had lost or forgotten...and here is one I just HAVE to share with you...



What you are seeing, other than my adorable feet, is a gourmet raspberry-creme filled chocolate.
Shaped like a shrimp.
These were my valentines day candy last year. I knew one day I would tell the world about chocolate shrimp!!!



I took great pride in throwing away this Sheryl Crow CD. WHO the hell was dumb enough to give that to me anyway?!?

My last night in Columbia may turn into an event. A laser-tag/go-cart event. Frankie's Fun Park deserves its own farewell too, I think!

Law & Order withdrawls! Damn You, Basketball!!!

In lieu of actually saying something, here are some pictures I took today...



Me and one of my Bestest friends in the world, Trevor.



My face always looks so damned ROUND next to Christina's! Dammit!



I get fuzzy love!



A cat. An Elephant. Some shoes.



Mister Grumpy Face!



Check out my Cheekbone!!!



Blue teardrop Necklace made by yours truly.



Bead necklace handcrafted and presented to Amber as graduation gift...also by me!

The Further Packing Adventures of Punkrakwbethies

I love how craft night at my house turns into Drinking & Dancing night at the Art Bar, but Hey! No complaints! I was wanting to go to my favoite place with my favorite girls (Read: Crystal, Ash, Kate, Tara didn't make it), and wouldn't you know that my last night (for who knows how long) at the Art Bar was also my first night Dancing with my Divas? We left around 12ish, when my eyes were beginning to sting from the smoke. I couldn't help feeling sad that a) this would probably be the last time in a looong time we all got to hang out together and b) Ash forgot her blasted camera! Seeing Crystal sipping a Jagerbomb while wailing "I Can't Chug!!!" was somehow worth it all. Take my word for it, it was SO CUTE!!!

Of course last nights festivies equaled me waking up feeling like I'd been steamrolled. I decided that twenty eight was indeed too old to be getting hangovers, and have therefore sworn off Jagerbombs.

Today I'm resisting the urge to go to the fabric stores (I found a reeeeallly great one in Northeast) and am instead packing. Today I've packed all the clothes except for what I'll wear this coming week, and the extra towels and sheets. If I could only get rid of some of this furniture I'd be blasted DONE! Then all I would have to do is sit back and craft until next saturday, when we'll be loading up the van. I've started doing Embriodery, and am now devouring the floss aisle at Hobby Lobby. I must get EVERY. FLIPPING. COLOR. EVAR.



NOOOOOO!!!!!

Speaking of...please check out Divas. I updated today. Go there. Or face my wrath, puny one!

Three Things to keep me from packing...

3 Names you go By: Beth, Bethies, Lynda

3 Screen Names you Have Had: Bee, Punkrawkbethies, The Moxie Proxy

3 Things you Like about Yourself: Geeky, Smarmy, Funny

3 Things you Don't Like about Yourself: whiny, bad speller, cranky

3 Parts of Your Heritage: Norwegian, Jewish, French

3 Things that Scare You: riding shotgun with my brother driving, clowns, roosters

3 of Your Everyday Essentials: Crafts, food of some sort, a nighttime bath

3 Things you are Wearing Right Now: skirt, t-shirt, flip-flops

3 of Your Favorite Bands or Musical Artists: Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Radiohead

3 of Your Favorite Songs: "Tunnels" Arcade Fire, "Photobooth" Death Cab for Cutie, "Wig in a Box" Hedwig & the Angry Inch

3 Things you Want to Try in the Next 12 Months: Make some friends in a new city, teach Bobi how to cook, do some volunteer work.

3 Things You Want in a Relationship: Companionship, sense of humor, intellect.

2 Truths and a Lie: I prefer salty snacks to sweet snacks. I'd rather have Potato chips than Ice cream. I dislike chocolate.

3 Things about the Opposite Sex that Appeal to You: Brains, Brawn, Boink-ability.

3 Things about the Same Sex that Appeal to You: Ease of conversation, sense of humor, buy me lunch.

3 Things you Just Cannot Do: bring myself to do more packing today, rollerskate, live with my mother.

3 of Your Favorite Hobbies: Crafting, Cooking, Law & Ordering

3 Things You Want to do Really Bad Right Now: To see my manz, to hire a moving company, to go shopping for craft supplies.

3 Careers you are Considering: Freelance Blogger, Buyer, International Superstar

3 Places You Want to Go on Vacation: Europe, Japan, Aspen

3 Kids Names: Robert, Claire, Qwendravius 1-9

3 Things you Want to Do Before you Die: finish my degree, fix my credit, kiss my man.

3 Ways you are Stereotypically a Boy: I like beer, I like Pizza, I like sex.

3 Ways you are Stereotypically a Chick: I get irrational and cranky once a month, I like shopping, I collect shoes.

3 Celeb Crushes: James Marsters, Vincent D'Onofrio, Christian Kane

3 People You Would Like to Complete This Quiz: Lex Luthor, The Easter Bunny, My Gal Friday.

Packing

Unpacking is never a big deal to me, in fact that's my favorite part of moving. It's the packing that sucks. Weeding out all the stuff you don't need or want, wrapping the breakables, marking boxes, it all sucks.

Usually I'm able to be very business-like about it, but this time It feels so much more personal. It took me two years to turn my little apartment into home, and I AM going to miss the cheap rent and hardwood floors. Not to mention I've always loved Columbia, the perfect mix of city and town.

To celebrate the last two years, and give my apartment and Columbia the proper send-off, here are some of my favorite memories from this place:



Me, my short hair, my granny afgan and my fat cat.



Sometimes I hate 1950's advertising. Stupid disembodied head!!! This was at the Old Mill Antique Mall



Having my manz in my kitchen made me SO HAPPY!!!



Skylar and Yoshimi (a black belt in Karate) before the dog was banned from my house for making indoor poo.


Tiki man and Papsan Chair both fell victim to the Moving Sale. Farewell!!!



Yes, it's me in my underwear.



Tara and a very convincing Tammy Faye at Art Bar Halloween.



Two of my paintings.



Mollie and Buddy.



Another one of my paintings, along with the Drapes I made (thanks, Ash!) and the entertainment center I put together.



Me and Crystal look like an Orbit Commercial. Brilliant!

I get MAD Love!!!!

No matter what else happens for the rest of the day, even if it's news I don't want to hear about the apartment, NOTHING will bring me down after seeing This.

Bobi and Spinning Girl can BOTH stuff it!!! I've Got my OWN 'Ode to Me' Now! Well, maybe not so much an "Ode" as an "interperative dance", but in my opinion FAR better. Who needs stuffy old Odes anyway?

Ashley is way more than forgiven for missing my stupid moving sale for that! Girlfriend, where'd you learn to shake your booty like that?

Huge Hugs and Smiles all around!!!