And the winner is...

This afternoon, I saw a tweet that piqued my curiosity. I can't remember who it was (probably MiniBurgerTruck), but whoever it was (MiniBurgerTruck) was crowing about being nominated for KCRA's A-List and was soliciting votes. I don't have a problem with someone being excited about earning a nomination and then marketing themselves to achieve a winning status.

What I have a problem with was that I wasn't on the Local Blogger's list and an appliance repair company with a blog that hasn't been updated in 8 months was on the list! What injustice is this!! Of course, I tweeted angrily about this fact and decided that I would further investigate this travesty.

It was then that I found some random law firm in the list of nominees. They had a blog, but it hadn't been updated since 2009. Three years?!? What craziness is this? Who is behind the curtain deciding the fate of the BEST Local Blogger in Sacramento? Did they even have a computer without AOL's dial up service on it?

Then...I remembered that I almost nominated myself for this A-List last year...because you could write in a vote or something.

This is the point where a light descends from the heavens...

There was no special committee scouring the internet for the best bloggers in Sacramento. It's all self promotion! Hooray!

A huge weight was lifted off my soul. I knew people didn't hate me as much as the last guy I dated. They just didn't know I was out there. So, I A-Listed myself.

And like all people running for office, I would appreciate your vote.  And of course, you have to register to do it...

Adventures in Housing: Random Thoughts on Kitchens

Even before I decided to jump into the housing market like a well adjusted adult, I used to watch a fair amount of programming on HGTV. Even today as I scour through listings, I'm amazed that people want black appliances and/or stainless steel. Have you people actually used that stuff? Dark colors in a kitchen almost always look dirty. Dusty at best.

And stainless steel? You'll never be able to get those fingerprints to disappear with the ease of all the men I've dated.

Also? Not a fan of granite. Sure, it's beautiful, but liquid soaks into it like a sponge and unless you've got mutated genes of some sort, there's no way to wring it out. I like that man made stuff. Sure it's probably not "green" unless you wanted it that color, but I'd rather not have my kitchen look like everyone else's on the block.

Not that I cook that much, but I'd rather have a country looking kitchen than some modern nightmare wrapped in granite and stainless steel. That look is going to be outdated in 15 seconds anyway.  I've always wondered why a kitchen seems to be what sells a house when so many people don't ever really cook anymore.

Unlike the fools on House Hunters, when I look at a place, I try to ignore the furniture in it. Usually, that stuff is going. What I pay attention to is what will be staying, what is fixed in place. How much maintenance is needed? Can I live with what's going on in the place right now? How much work will be involved with making the place livable? Do I like the floor plan? Is the neighborhood safe? Is there a decent grocery store around? How much parking will I get? Can I hear my neighbors?

Buying a place is scary. Aside from financial restrictions, I stayed away from being a "home owner" because it seemed like that was the final step to spinsterhood. Now, I don't care. It's an investment and I want to make money, diversify my sad little portfolio.

Online Dating Chronicles: Back to square one

On my own...

Ah the Houdini act. The longer I date a guy, the worse it feels when it inevitably happens to me. The one good thing is that now I know when it's about to happen. I get the "I'll call you" line.

For any women who don't know what this means, let me translate. In guy speak, "I'll call you" means "I think you are hideous and never want to see you again, but I'm not man enough to say thanks but no thanks to you."

Fair warning men of Sacramento. If you give me that line, I'm calling you on it. I will snort derisively and roll my eyes. My reply will be "Ah yes, like I haven't heard that one before. Maybe next time you grow a pair and just tell me you don't want to see me again."

To sum up, the last guy I dated disappeared after 4 dates. No warning, no good bye, just nothing. The most annoying part is that I let him lead me on for two weeks thinking there was a slight chance my gut was wrong. Maybe he would call when he got back from his vacation. He didn't. He didn't even return my last call. I called to invite him out to a shindig. He didn't even have the balls to call me and say, "Sorry, but I can't go. I don't think this is going to work out."

All I want is a little closure. I can't call him and bitch him out. It will do no good. Instead, you people get to read about his antics on my blog.

Another fair warning, if you men of Sacramento do date me, you will end up here. Why? Because you will do something stupid and cowardly and I have to warn the other women. If you act like a real man, I probably won't write about you. No one wants to read about all that mushy stuff.

So, Sacramento...you will continue to be regaled with tales of my pathetic love life. At least a pathetic love life is better than none at all, right?

Like a March Hare or a Hatter?

The madness in March starts tomorrow and it really is crazy. Who the hell labeled the brackets?

At first glance I thought maybe there just weren't enough schools to go round in each geographic location, but I don't think that's the case. I'm pretty sure The West is called that because someone was facing west when they were picking the names out of the metaphorical hat.

And of course South Dakota State is in the South bracket because it's south of North Dakota. It's just logic!

San Diego State is so in the Midwest just like the NCAA says. I mean we all know Missouri is never considered midwestern by any stretch of the imagination. It's in the West (if you are living on the east coast anyway).

Now before you basketball aficionados start telling me that all the good teams are in the west and all the crap teams are back east (or vice versa as the case may be) so they had to mix it up, let me point out that doing that makes the labels for the brackets look arbitrary. They might was well be named for planets as much as directions on a compass. I mean who wouldn't want to root for the Mars bracket over Uranus? Why not just name them after various sea creatures or constellations? We have the Orion bracket leading the pack over the Starfish.

Otherwise, someone might need to tell Florida that they are now in the West.

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Remember the Pink Panther cartoons?

Have you ever had one of those days? Of course you have. If you hadn't you wouldn't know what the hell I'm talking about.

On the off chance you have had a boringly perfect life, let me explain "one of those days" to you. For me, it is a culmination of factors. Firstly, the time changed. Why the hell we still do this remains an eternal mystery. But since it will literally take an act of Congress to change it, I and the rest of the country suffer through this biannual event.

Secondly, I'm hormonal. All of you men can just shut up. I don't want to be pissed off, but unlike you, my hormones only act up once a month. Men it seems get hormonal every time they get behind the wheel and think they are either fleeing the scene of a heist or racing to beat the checkered flag. Tell me that's not you guys being hormonal.

So, my fuse is short and I'm tired. All I want to do is hide in my bedroom, but because I'm an adult, I go into work. Here is where I'm challenged by various moments of stupidity. Not necessarily in the course of doing work, but getting there, leaving, going to lunch...you know almost anywhere I seem to be present.

My limit for suffering fools is usually pretty low. Add to that the tired and the cranky, and when I get home I just can't stop laughing at the absurd things people post on Facebook.

My 20 year reunion is coming up. For some reason, someone thought it would be a good idea to post random pictures of everyone's kids and have everyone guess whose they are. Excuse me while I go barf for a while.

I really don't need to be reminded that I'm most likely the lone single person in my class and I really don't want to see your kids. They aren't doing anything particularly interesting, so why should I care? I'm not going to guess whose kids those are... I can barely remember everyone's names much less their faces. Plus, not all children look like their parents. Sure, there's probably a resemblance if you've interacted with the child and/or its parents on a regular basis, but I haven't seen some of these people in two decades.

I actually ran into a gal I went to high school with 14 years ago while riding the MUNI to work. I barely recognized her then and that was only 6 years after we'd graduated. Add pounds and years to that equation and I doubt I'll be able to recognize someone out of context. I doubt they'd recognize me.

The only thing that gives me comfort is the fact that I will acclimate to the time change and the hormones will calm down in the next few days. A return to sanity will be welcome. Then I can go back to ignoring the ridiculousness on Facebook and in the rest of the world.

Is that odd?

The other day I was sitting in a waiting room...waiting...by myself.

Whenever I am in a public place with another person, I always make sure they have seating near me.  For example, when I'm in a waiting room, I look for two open seats next to each other (or as close as possible) when I am with one other person.

I saw a woman enter the waiting room alone.  I assume she surveyed the room for a seat, just like normal people do, and chose an empty seat near me.  Now, there were plenty of other spots for her to sit, but she chose to sit near me for reasons that still remain a mystery to this day.

Apparently, I was too engrossed in my book to give off the "Bitch, don't sit next to me or I'll cut you" vibe.

The only reason I noticed her beyond her sitting close to me when it was sort of unnecessary was because her companion walked into the room and stood next to her without a place to sit.

Now, why would you purposefully chose a lone seat when someone is with you?  Am I the only one who is courteous and just assume everyone else is?  Or was this lady just a weirdo?

It should also be noted that there were some newspapers & magazines strewn in the seat next to me.  I chose to sit there because I was alone and knew no one would be able to sit next to me unless it was the last seat available.  I mean why would you make someone move papers when there are plenty of other seats available?  Granted, they weren't my papers, but strangers wouldn't know that...

Whenever someone behaves outside of what I deem to be the norm, I feel like Dr. Sheldon Cooper.  Like I'm out of touch with societal nuances...like I didn't get the memo on what is now acceptable human behavior and I am just sticking to the old fashioned manners that my parents taught me.

Then again, maybe that lady was just rude to her friend.

I saw red

I thought I'd do a quarterly review of my New Year's goals. OK, the quarter isn't technically over, but I thought this would be as good a time as any to add a new beauty goal to my list. I'm going to try to wear lipstick on a regular basis.

My lips are chapped...alot. I slather on the lip balm like it's going out of style, but nothing really helps. So, I thought why not just wear lipstick?

The problem has always been that I never find one that I like. I've been engulfed in various pinks and while I enjoy pink, as a lipstick it never really stirred my pot.

Red has always intrigued me, but I've never felt comfortable wearing it. It's a bold color. It's easy to pick the wrong one. Would I look like a clown?  Is it too dated?  Maybe it's retro?

Today, I just picked the reddest red I could find and it looks fabulous! I feel pretty. Whether or not it makes me look like a clown, I don't really care.  I'm tired of drowning in a safe pink or god forbid, dusty rose.

I put it on and asked my mom what she thought and got, "Oh...no..."

Thanks for bursting my bubble. I shouldn't ask for an opinion. If a new beauty product looks good, a compliment will come unsolicited. Plus, I like it, so there.