they are, you are, we all are.

where did the time go?:

someone said to me, “every morning, we reinvent ourselves.”

they said, “we wake up and make decisions everyday.”

“you can wake up tomorrow and not want to be around any of those peoples.”

they said, “you can decide to be different and not let those influences be part of who you are.”

i say,

too late. 

every experience, every person who’s left their mark on you - good or bad - you are the total product.

acknowledge it, embrace it, and be happy in who you are - no one else can be you better than you.

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Tagged as: me,writing,memories,personal October 22, 2009 @ 11:10 am

where did the time go?

one day, you’re in high school, waiting for it to just all be over so you can GET OUT…

then, *blink*,

fast forward,

you’re sitting in a mall, chatting with your friends, waiting for your store to open so you can go to work, so that you can LEAVE and go have a good time…

then, *blink*,

fast forward,

it’s 20 years and several lifetimes later, and you’re wondering where all that time went, waiting to *feel* like the adult you most certainly must have become when you weren’t even looking…

did i tell you about the time i ran with bandidos?  probably not.  that was so many previous lifetimes ago that it’s hard to believe it was me.  whatever else they did, they kept it separate from me and treated me with a measure of respect and kindness that few would have ever expected of them and i am forever grateful.

or the time i stood with a crowd of stunned onlookers as a car exploded into flames, trapping it’s occupants inside?  several hundred people and the only sound was that of the flames and one lone voice screaming, “oh my god, oh my god” over and over.  i think that was me.

then there was the time…

and the time…

it just keeps passing.  so many lifetimes.  so many people passing through. 

every now and again, those people make indelible marks on the person you are and the person you are to become.

i am me, because of my peoples.

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Tagged as: me,writing,memories,personal August 12, 2009 @ 11:41 am

the craft room, redux

so the new tv has sparked a snowball of reorganization around arinhouse.  i’ve a spring-cleaning, decluttering, reorganizing obsession.  i’ve managed to finish most of the downstairs (i still have the kitchen to do) and i’ve a short list of things i want / need to do after i get done with everything.

my latest flurry was my craft area, which had become a general dumping ground for “stuff i dunno where to put”.  the room is *actually* supposed to be a kitchenette area, as it’s just off the kitchen, with a serving bar, etc, but due to it’s HUGE sliding glass doors with lots and lots of light and my lack of a need for a table and chairs, i’d turned it into the craft area.  but…my craft supplies were in lil clear plastic shoeboxes, lined up on the shelves, and really, it looked very utilitarian, very lacking in any personality and just *junky*. 

so i fixed it   mostly.  i still need to do a few things in there, but it’s coming along great.

there’s several big boxes of stuff sitting on the floor right now that i need to donate, i want to buy a white wicker chair for the desk (omg, i hate that folding chair!) and i need to replace the ceiling fan (preferably with a white one), but otherwise, i am LOVING it. 

with the ~herb garden~ themed boxes and being right off the kitchen, it all blends well… the boxes and baskets were all on sale at michael’s :D i <3’d michael’s :D

i might actually make use of the room again!

Blogged, Just for Fun, arts&crafts, Personal, Comments (0)
Tagged as: me,crafts,hobbies,personal June 17, 2009 @ 11:58 am

haphazardly arin

i haven’t been around much… well, i have, but haphazardly.  it’s been a busy coupla weeks. 

memorial day weekend, my stepdaughter stopped by for a visit.  i hadn’t seen her in absolute *ages* - something about *having a job* and *a boyfriend* and being 20 years old, she’s like… all busy >:O we hot-footed it over to house of pies, which used to be our weekly saturday night hangout back in the day - it’s a people watchin’ kinda place.  (i recommend the chicken fingers and the ~bayou goo~ pie, though girlie recommends the chicken fingers and ~chocolate silk pie~ - she has NO taste in pies!!)  we ended up comin’ back and watching the movie blindness.  very ~lord of the flies~.  odd little movie.  somewhat disturbing.

we spent the next coupla days dealing with some family issues that came up.  all taken care of, thankfully.

they’re coming to level the foundation at my mom’s building (we live in the same condo complex), so we’ve had to pack up all her stuff and move it to her 2nd floor, so that they can drill huge holes in her floor to install piers :|  been there, done that, last year.  it’s stressful, messy, and just a general pain in the ass.  BUT.  mom’s decided to buy a new tv, so while we were shuffling all her stuff, i gained her old tv.  of course, this has sent me into a declutter phase, as her tv wouldn’t fit on my entertainment center, so i’ve had to reorganize all over the place.  it’s a snowball effect - get rid of the entertainment center, then i need to put dvds, albums, etc into my trunk/coffee table, which means the sleeping bags in there already have to go into a closet, which means i have to clean out a spot, blah blah blah.)  BUT.  the new tv is bigger and the room feels less cluttered now, so i’m happy.  i’ve just carried on decluttering through the rest of the house, which means my back room is FULL of stuff i want to get rid of or find another place for ;o   i vill get it done, tho!

i still have to fix the speaker on top of the tv (it needs to be mounted on the wall), but i are gettin’ there:

hrm.  what else?  i’m working on setting up my etsy shop for crocheted items/patterns and still working at redoing http://www.hypnobird.com.  i’ve been a bit haphazard with both, working at it here and there, but i’ll get it all done soon. 

speaking of which, i need to go haphazardly attack the bathrooms and ~declutter~ there today, so adios, ciao, etc.  i are around, i’m just bouncin’ ~everywhere~!  call me tigger :D which reminds me, the cats (bonnie and clyde) seem absolutely thrilled with the spring cleaning/decluttering phase.  they’re following me all about the house, inspecting everything i do and, since i’ve stopped smoking in the house, i have gained desktop kittehs:

i leave you with:

dave matthews’ song “squirm” off his new album

Blogged, Life, Personal, Comments (2)
Tagged as: music,photos,me,videos,day2day June 04, 2009 @ 03:18 pm

comcast sucks, uverse rocks, tell your friends!

today’s post brought to you by the word “freedom”

way back in 1998, i signed up with earthlink.  i’ve remained a loyal customer ever since (save for a one month period when their service wasn’t available in my area) - from dialup to their cable venture with time warner cable, then comcast.  i wanted to see earthlink succeed as, at one time, they had wonderful customer service and when all else failed, they would intervene on my behalf with twc or comcast, both of whom have absolutely atrocious customer service.  sadly, all things change and with earthlink that’s meant a slow but steady deterioration of services.  once they outsourced their customer service, there was no more intervening, no more quality customer service.  the last time that i called them for an alternative / help with comcast, they had nothing to offer me.  when i told them that i’d end up having to cancel my account, they could only say “oh well”.  so.

as stated in a previous post, i went to att and decided to try out their u-verse service.  it’s been wonderful.  no phone problems, no tv problems (and more gadgety things than i was getting with my comcast “basic” service) and my internet?  constant speeds, no outages, and though i cut my download / upload rates in half, there’s been no noticeable difference.  when my tv behaved oddly one day and i called them, their customer service was ~excellent~ (not a problem with service, but confusion over setup). 

comcast?  Worst. Customer. Support.  EVER.

here’s the standard comcast experience:

Continue Reading...

Blogged, Life, Personal, Tech, Comments (4)
Tagged as: computers,me,day2day May 21, 2009 @ 12:03 pm