Peppered Thought – The Spice of Life

Thanks to The Beau, and Rock Band 2, I found a awe-inspiring band, Muse. I know I found this bandwagon waaaay late -their first album was released in 1999- but give me a break; in ’99 I was listening to *checks* Lauryn Hill, Goo Goo Dolls (WHY JESSICA?!) and Len (which I still have on my ipod). I also missed their amazing showing on “Live at Abbey Road,” but in fairness to me, I didn’t have those fancy-pants HD channels. Anyway, the focus is that I have them on my radar now, and I love them, and their video for “Hysteria.” Which, on another note, The Beau said this about the song: “Even the first chords get you so amped you feel like you can charge full speed through brick wall, just to rock.”

Another reason I love Justin Theroux:

The intensity of his scream at 3:19 frightens me with how real it feels.

Here are my lovely Grand Canyon pictures. Click any to enlarge. It was an awesome day, it snowed a bit, I finished my noir novel, I saw a Wonder of the World, and even got a nap. BEST DAY TRIP EVER! My guide was awesome. I highly recommend him to anyone who wants to do any sort of trip in Phoenix or any part of Arizona. I got to use the pinhole function on my camera, got to meditate at a framed view of the canyon, and got a foot from a squirrel.

Going to the Grand Canyon for the day, BRB.

A lot of my friends ask me how I manage to stay happy all the time.  

(Big secret: It isn’t all the time.)  

The times I don’t feel up to snuff to face the day, I stay in bed/under my headphones/quiet in general, until it passes which, thankfully, comes swiftly. I suppose it’s the ‘swiftly’ part they don’t understand. I know that part of it was my upbringing. My mom didn’t believe in feeling sorry for yourself any longer than 24 hours. And my dad? My dad didn’t believe in it at all. “Walk it off,” he would say, to everything from falls to heartbreaks. Okay, maybe not heartbreak, but many intangible things, like laziness.  

I always believe that you can “Fake it til you make it,” meaning you imagine something, you write about something, you dress a certain way, until that thing comes to fruition.  

I may not be happy all the time, but when I realize I need to snap out of it, I have a lot of things that can help cheer me up.  

I can also ask for help. This is a step that is sometimes hard for me, but some of my friends are very helpful. I can just text them ” Well, this has been a shite week; tell me 5 good things about your life,” and they will give me an avalanche of good. Or, offer to bake me a cookie to make up for it. Having strong, positive friends (and not negative people or emotional vampires) helps in ways no words could describe.   

Something I think about, other than Mark Twain’s quote about naked people, is “dress for the job you want, not what you have.”  

Now, ladies, unless you would like a job in the after-hours gentleman’s club department, please do NOT wear a tank top, half-shirt, overly tight wiggle dress to an interview. I don’t care if you live on the surface of the sun (believe me, Phoenix in July is close enough), no overly revealing clothing. likewise gentlemen, no tank tops, sports jerseys, undershirts, jeans or flip-flops. There are times and places for all these things, and it is not the 20 minutes someone is asking you whether you follow direction well.  

But I digress. Clothes make me a bit irritated in the right/wrong/grey area.  

Long story short: smile (even to pull yourself out of a rut when you’re not feeling it), clean up (take a shower and imagine your blahs floating down the drain), and make a playlist of your favorite upbeat songs and shake the loose ends free.

Me and Philip’s best (only) glasses. See explanation below.

In the spirit of Gala Darling’s Carousel, CagePotato’s Link Dump, FilmDrunk’s Friday Free for All and Warming Glow’s Weekend Preview, today I will be Taking Five to appreciate the instantaneous joy that is internet linkage.

• This post is really old (in Internet time), but I love it. As The Beau said, “to me, this is the new face of homosexuality.”
• Not only does this ad make me want to travel, it makes me want to cut out this ad and hand it to the boarding lady.
• Oh hey, something current, Jess! Nice Job! Shut up, sassy readers, or I won’t tell you about how drinking Gila monster tears is the best thing ever.
• If Phillip Marlowe and I had a crumbling motel room together, this would be the only nice thing we would own.
• Betty White’s going to be on SNL tomorrow. Very cool. Here she is playing beer pong with Jimmy Fallon.
• But the most exciting thing I will be watching this weekend will be UFC 113. Shogun-Machida re-match, and Semtex and his swinging-for-the-fences hands. Hoo-rah!
• I am slooooowly going through Dragos Rua’s 100 Ways to Live a Better Life. I’m not going linear, so right now I’m working with #38.
• A big fan of embarrassingly awesome memoirs (I’m on the library waiting list for The Bedwetter, of course!), I really enjoy reading Hyperbole and a Half. Even this interview entertains me!
• I’m also a big fan of “what liking ____ says about you” lists. I particularly like this one because I love Kurt Vonnegut, agree with the Cormac McCarthy, and severely dislike Lauren Wesiberger.
• Grilled Cheese Academy. Since my friends know about my love of grilled cheese, HH sent me this link and I got so embroiled with all these ideas that The Beau and I created Toasted Cheese Tuesday, in which we will make a new one of these each week. First on the list was The Marco. I am so excited to try the Sgt. Pepper.
• Here is my post from last year about Mother’s Day Ideas. I would like add a couple new ideas and a mom to that list.

What are some links that are blowing your mind this week?

(I wanted to write “General Purpose Explosive” for the title (Semtex), but what with all the NYC SUVs being filled with poorly-crafted bombs, I thought better of it.)

As if I would put any other pictures on this post.

Lyoto “the Dragon” Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

I read this, via Twitter, and found it amusingly accurate: “Always harder to beat the guy second time around. So…who’s the Guy?”

Both have to prove that the previous fight was no fluke, both have been working hard to be in top physical condition. But as much as I looooove Machida, I think Shogun is going to bring back all his power and bring home the belt again.

Josh “Kos” Koscheck vs. Paul “Semtex” Daley

I love when they’re cut and dry (well, in my world at least) like this. By now, those of you who find my MMA posts amusing enough to read them know how much I hate bleach-haired fighters. So, not only does Kos have that going against him - up to and including an unimaginative nickname - but the biggest thing he has against him? Oh yeah, SEMTEX. Semtex is fighting someone whose wrestling is as good as his stand-up. Of course he doesn’t want this fight to get to the ground but if it does here’s hoping he has practiced his escape plans like Dan Hardy. Hopefully he can get a win and keep the slurs to a minimum in his speech, though.

Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens vs. Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout

This one i’m still on the fence about. I really like Stout’s Nickname, but I will have to go with the guy who’s center of gravity seems more stable.

Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. Matt Mitrione

I don’t have anything to say besides: Just take deep breaths, and don’t get winded. This will be much easier if you TKO, Kimbo.

Alan “The Talent” Belcher vs. Patrick “The Predator” Cote

I have no idea why, but I like Alan Belcher. I expect good things to spring forth from him.

Preliminary Card

Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor

There are a few fights on this undercard I’m pretty stoked about. First and foremost, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. I think the header of his website says it all. I think this is one fighter that intersects the line of cool guy i’d hang out with/ good fighter. There aren’t too many of them; most of them are one or the other. Former history teacher, interviewee extraordinaire, and questionable facial hair expert = quickly climbing up my Top 5 fighter ranks. I am a firm believer in the Entertainer value of any show. Not only is Lawlor a good showman and self-hyper, but he is a good fighter. I hope he barrels through and finishes Joe.

Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet
T.J. Grant vs. Johny Hendricks