Guess what? Yesterday I received another letter from the city, regarding the aforementioned parking ticket (which the guy who bought my car had assured me he was going to pay). They explained to me that if I sold the car without removing its license plates, which were registered in my name, I might still be liable for any violations - UNLESS I can provide sufficient documentation of vehicle transfer.:/ Which, of course, I cannot provide, because I do not have it. The new owner does, but he (surprise, surprise!) ignored my request to send me a copy.:/ So I paid the damned ticket. It was only fifty bucks, after all. ( Read more... )

So, it's the holiday weekend, and today was "early close" at work, which means you can take the whole day off while using only four vacation hours. Which is what I did.:) And just as well, since I got my period yesterday and would probably have to call in sick this morning anyway. I was actually kinda hoping for mother nature's scheduled inconvenience to coordinate with my day off - and for once, it almost did (I was already feeling pretty crappy at work yesterday, but the worst of it didn't come till the evening, and I was mostly able to sleep through it). So this morning/early afternoon was largely spent in bed with Jacqueline Carey (the author I'm reading at the moment - in case you had other ideas, LOL). Towards evening I was feeling a little better, so I got up and made a deliciously refreshing Mexican salad (black beans, corn, tomatoes, avocado, lime juice etc.). I had bought the ingredients the previous weekend, but there was plenty of other food in the fridge, so I didn't really need to make it until today. Tomorrow I will hopefully feel up to cleaning the place, in addition to doing the grocery shopping for next week. Sunday will most likely be laundry day, since I haven't done that in a while either. Apparently, I need a long holiday weekend just to catch up with the regular stuff that most people do on a daily basis.:/ Not to mention being behind on emails, as usual, and having about a hundred ideas for LJ-posts that would take hours to write and quite possibly make me forget about all my other plans.:P Oh, and I am finally, FINALLY getting ready to buy this new PC that's been looming on my wish list since sometime last year. I just need to organize/back up some stuff (mostly music) from the old laptop before I shut it down and put it to its well-deserved rest (I have a distinct feeling that once this machine is turned off, it will never wake up again... lol). And I'm still not 100% sure which exact model the new PC is going to be. I need to spend some more time browsing the HP website (it will be an HP, because they have a deal with my workplace and I can get a huge discount if I order through their online store). So, it looks like this "long weekend" might not be long enough, after all... *sigh*

But speaking of ideas for LJ-posts: I have started this alphabetic meme stolen from goddessofchaos, and I am already a few letters behind. So I decided to skip the letters/questions I wasn't too crazy about. I did "A for Adulthood". B was for Babies - and I don't really feel like writing at length about how or why I don't want any.:P C was for Cars - and anyone following this journal knows that I'm sort of fed up with the topic, for a number of reasons (I have a tag called "car trouble" - that should give you a hint of my feelings on the matter, lol). So I skipped that one too. But the next few letters are actually interesting, so I will attempt to "do" them as time allows. Starting right now.

( D is for Dreaming... )

So, like I mentioned, I was off work today - and it ended up being a pretty productive day, despite having slept in almost till 10 a.m. First I went to the bank to deposit my tax return check, which I collected yesterday from my parents' house (I still get some mail at their address) - and since I was just a few bus stops away from TJ Maxx, I couldn't resist stopping by.;) I LOVE TJ Maxx. I hardly ever walk out of that store empty-handed - which probably means I shouldn't visit it too often... LOL. Today I bought two lovely sleeveless tops, a nice pair of brown loafers (I had been looking for one, since my old trusty brown mocassins are very worn out and might not last much longer) and TWO COOKBOOKS - all for about $70, total. I am particularly excited about the cookbooks, because I've been recently running out of inspiration in the cooking department. One is called Power Foods and contains healthy recipes with ingredients of high nutritional value. The other - Indian Made Simple - is an introduction to Indian cuisine for beginners. Both are beautifully edited, with mouth-watering pictures, and they cost me $16.99 and $3.99, respectively. Have I mentioned I LOVE TJ Maxx?...;)

Then, after I got back home and had some lunch, I decided to dye my hair. I bought this new shade a while ago at Whole Foods - Light Copper Chestnut. Well... let me tell you there is nothing "light" about it. It's probably the darkest color my hair has ever been... lol. It feels a bit weird, actually, and I'm not sure it suits me at all. But no worries - it will most likely wash out in a few weeks...

After that, I made my favorite seafood salad, with red grapefruit and avocado. That was actually the main point on today's "to do" list - except it somehow got pushed to the back burner by other spontaneous projects... so now I've barely eaten and it's time for bed. *sigh*

Back to the office grinder tomorrow.:/

Today we had our annual summer outing at work - just like last year, it consisted of lunch and bowling at that lovely Italian place in a far-out suburb. I couldn't care less for bowling, but the food was exquisite, and I had entirely too much of it. *massages aching stomach* Those are the dangers of an open buffet - once you start heaping stuff on your plate, it takes a will of iron to stop before the plate is overflowing. *sigh* And, since there was still plenty of food left over after everyone finished stuffing themselves silly, they handed us a stack of plastic containers and said to take some home (they were going to throw it out anyway). I packed three boxes.:D

Oh, and btw, I had to get up at 5 a.m., because the shuttle bus they provided for those of us who don't drive was scheduled to leave the office at 7:45 (as usual, there was a company meeting before lunch). In the early morning confusion (my brain doesn't really wake up until sometime around 8 a.m.) and anxiety at the prospect of being late and keeping everyone waiting for me, I actually got to the office around 7:15. It felt surreal to be there so early. I know a lot of people at our company start work at seven... but to me that feels just WRONG on some very deep level.:P Thankfully, we have the flexibility to pick a schedule of anywhere between 7:00-3:30 and 9:00-5:30. And yes, nine is STILL a bit too early, if you ask me - but I can cope with that, at least.

I tried to take a nap after I got home around 4 p.m., but I ended up getting sucked into the tumultous universe of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series. I am now reading the second part in the trilogy - Kushiel's Chosen. I've been dragging this out as much as I possibly could, because I HATE to finish a great book too soon (I tend to suffer from withdrawal after I'm done ;) - but these novels are REALLY, REALLY hard to put down, even for me (the master of restraint, used to fanfic authors ending WIP chapters on nasty cliffhangers and having you wait months for the next one... LOL). The suspense is almost intolerable at times, and the plot twists make your head spin. ( Plus, I absolutely LOVE the characters. )

So I've been going through some old entries in this journal, and here's what I said in August 2008:

[...] in whatever I read or write [...], I am primarily interested in feelings, emotions, the dynamics of relationships and human [...] interaction - not in the mechanics of sex itself. That is a very secondary thing to me - and so is gender, basically, even though I do prefer exploring homosexual relationships to heterosexual ones (probably because they are simply closer to my personal experience and I feel more confident talking about them). And I am perfectly fine with PWP's - but they must be featuring either an established couple, or the beginnings of such (first time sex between people who feel very intensely about each other). Otherwise it's just a waste of time for me. Which could be one of the reasons why I'd much rather read fanfic than 'original' erotica where the characters often seem too anonymous (if there is little characterization and no 'back story', I simply don't understand why these two/three etc. people are having sex, or why I would want to know anything about it, and can't for the life of me get into it enough to actually feel turned on, even mentally - if you know what I'm talking about).

No reason for reposting this, other than to point out that I was obviously trying to describe/explain my "demisexual" leanings long before I knew the term. *wry smirk*

I've been reading about asexuality again. I've found this site: http://www.asexuality.org. Tons of useful information there, to say the least. I've barely started dipping into it, and I am a little overwhelmed at the moment.;) There are actual DATING SITES for asexual people, btw. Of course, my first thought was, "why on earth would you be interested in dating if you don't want to have sex?" - but then I thought again, and asked myself why I no longer check any of the dating sites I used to be on a few years back. And the answer is, "because I am not comfortable with people automatically assuming that if I like them/interact with them, I will at some point inevitably want to end up in bed with them, too". ( Read more... )

Thanks for the jelly beans, dissonant_dream! <333 *munches happily* ;)

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, slesia!... wherever you are. Please drop me a line if you see this. You are missed...

Summer came back today, but it is supposed to retreat again by the end of the week. As far as I can tell, the apocalypse did not happen.:P Not that I would have noticed in the flurry of mundane errands that filled this weekend. My legs are sore from all the running around I did - which is nearly a permanent condition ever since I got rid of the car, anyway. I am on a quest for more comfortable shoes - I mean, I do have a few pairs that are quite comfortable, but those are the ones I wear most often, especially now, and some are already looking shabby. Plus, the definition of "comfortable shoes" changes when you actually walk around the streets in them on a daily basis, not just around the office.:P

Btw, I just ordered my monthly pass for public transportation. My workplace offers this employee transit program where they take money off your paycheck pre-tax and put in on a debit card that you can use to pay for bus/train fares. I signed up for it right after I sold the car, but I had to wait till there was enough money in the account to cover the monthly fee - so for now I am still paying as I go. Which can be a hassle, since I have to remember to always carry enough cash on me to be able to reload the transit card if I need it. The monthly pass will reload automatically, and it's good for unlimited rides on all buses/trains in the entire Chicago area. It will also save me quite a lot of money in the long run...

Also, I FINALLY bought new headphones for my iPod. The old ones were so worn out they were starting to screech when the music hit higher notes... lol. Plus, they had very limited volume range - good enough for the office, but if I was outside at the train station, or on the train, I sometimes couldn't hear a peep out of my iPod over the noise. The new ones look pretty basic too, and cost me less than ten bucks... but OMG the difference. I nearly destroyed my eardrums when I first put them on, because the volume on the iPod was adjusted to the old ones. I CAN HAS MUSIC NOW, wherever I go. *beams*

And that is all in today's newsflash. I need to hit the pillows, pronto. *crashes*

Happy Birthday, taelyn_sass! I hope you had a good one. Best wishes for the coming year!

How is it summer already?... We barely had any spring to speak of. I still wore my winter coat less than two weeks ago - and now it's too hot for a long-sleeved shirt?... WTF? I'll never get used to your wild mood swings, Chicago weather. *bemused headshake*

Also, I am exhausted. The darn squirrels who live on my window sill keep waking me up around 5-5:30 a.m. with their mad scrambling and dashing around all over the place, and I can't go properly back to sleep after that, since I now get up at 6:30.:/ So I probably have to start hitting the pillows by 11 p.m. if I want to get any decent amount of sleep on a daily basis. Haven't managed to do that so far... but today I feel so wiped that it just might work.;)

Random unrelated remark: there was a gay couple on the bus today. Two almost identical big fuzzy "teddy bears" who totally looked like brothers - until they started cuddling. Which was kinda cute, if unexpected.:P

And then this gorgeous Maori-looking guy walked in at the next stop. Very dark skin, thick luscious dreadlocks and strong, sculpted features - like an ebony mask of an ancient warrior. Simply magnificent. Good thing he didn't sit facing me - or I would have a hard time tearing my eyes away. Yes, people-watching on the bus can be a rewarding experience.;)

I don't have any more profound insights to share tonight, kthxbai. *falls on face*

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, illuins_lair!!! Just in case you somehow happen to see this post. Because life is full of surprises, after all.

OMG... I sold it. O_O The car, I mean. About three hours ago. For $750. Not to either one of the guys who had seen it last week, btw. To a completely different person, who emailed me yesterday. ( Read more... )