Which Leading Dame Am I?

Your Score: Barbara Stanwyck

You scored 35% grit, 19% wit, 38% flair, and 21% class!

You're a tough dame, a bit of a spitfire, and you can even be a little dangerous, but you do it with such flair that almost all is forgiven (and even when it's not, you're still the most interesting woman in the room). You can be witty and charming, all right, but you have a tough streak that keeps you focused and sometimes deadly. You've had quite a climb to get where you are, but you're a hard worker and you mostly deserve all you get...and then some. You might end up destroying everything around you, but you must admit...you've got style. Your leading men include Henry Fonda, Fred MacMurray, and when you forget yourself, Gary Cooper.

Find out what kind of classic leading man you'd make by taking the Classic Leading Man Test.

Link: The Classic Dames Test written by gidgetgoes on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Does anyone know what movies Barbara Stanwyck is in? Now I want to see them.

Perfect Day With My Parents

Today my parents came to visit. When I lived at my old apartment, this was a bad scene. They would get all stressed from the city driving before they even got there and it was just not fun. But today was entirely different.

I was so excited that they were coming because my mom had never seen my apartment (I've lived here 5 months), and my dad hadn't seen it since before I moved in. They like it even more than my old place! I think they're crazy, because my old apartment was huge and beautiful, but they say this place feels like a loft, and they love the high ceilings.

After they made a big deal out of my place, we went to lunch at Lalo's, one of my favorite restaurants. They thought it was delicious, and the conversation was great. No arguing or negativity at all. And they paid.

Then they took me to Home Depot and bought me pretty plants! The orchid looks beautiful in front of my window. I think the plants "really pull the room together."

Finally, I took them on a little tour of my neighborhood, and they seemed to approve. Which was cool, because my dad usually considers everything but downtown "the ghetto."

My parents are also amazing because they bought me a new sticker for my license plate. I had been stressing about having to spend the extra money this week. I can't believe my dad even remembered it would expire this month, and it was so generous of him to buy it for me. It's not like I asked for it or anything- he just showed up with it.

So even though my parents used to make me completely crazy, I love them dearly and I'm so happy with how things are between us.

To make Erin eat her words...

So u thought I wouldn't ever do this. But I am. So I don't know what to say. I'm enjoying the beautiful weather and a bit confused about where to go. I've got prospects at the new bar job, but I'm not sure where that will go. I may totally hate it, but we shall see. I definitely going to pursue a lab job at Northwestern as well. That seems like a dream to me, but maybe I have a chance.

It's very refreshing to be doing what I want to do. And I just hope I can stay strong and not let people push me into doing things just because it's easier than deciding for myself. Life really is too short to waste it unhappy. And as long as your happiness doesn't create unhappiness for someone else than that seems like the right thing.

So whatever, that is my insight for the night. Things definitely will fall into place in their own time. So Erin, don't worry about the job situation you will be led where you should be. And if you want to try something new, try it. Look into it, don't take a giant leap into something if you are only really ready for a small step.

Middle school all over again

Today I was dragged into the middle of a crowd of 6th graders, who demanded that I pop, lock, and drop it. Never thought I'd see that happen. This time, I didn't drop it so low (last time I thought I could still do what I did in high school), so I am uninjured.

I also had to run into the girl's bathroom to hide from that guy who likes me. A true middle school moment.

Things that are good and bad

Things that are good in my life:

• I have friends who are always up for adventure. The reservations have been made for whitewater rafting in a few weeks, and there are plans to go to a rodeo at the end of June.
• My neighborhood bar. Cheap drinks, non-pretentious people. I need to hang out there more often.
• My parents. They are so understanding even though I just keep messing up with money.
• My class. Yesterday we read the part in The Outsiders where Johnny tells Ponyboy to stay gold. They were so into it. Today we finished watching West Side Story (since it goes along with The Outsiders) and my class walked around snapping all day.
• Grad school. It's everything I wanted it to be. I'm actually learning information that I'm applying to my job.
• I finally found a church I like in the city.
• My college roommate is coming to visit in a few weeks!
• My small group is going to be reading Sex God, which makes me very happy.
• A lady at work calls me Mary Poppins because I'm always smiling. I'm so flattered- Mary Poppins rocks!

Things that are not so good in my life that I need to stop worrying about:

• Money. It's not like I want a lot of it. I don't care about expensive clothes and shoes- I'm happy if I can afford Target. But I love to go out and do things, and that's hard when you're broke. Also, it would be kind of nice to have a little bit in savings.
• Church. I found a great church, but for some reason I'm not motivated to go every week. It's kind of like working out- you make excuses for not going, but then you always feel so much better when you do.
• I decided that I want to be a reading teacher. This means taking 24 more credits. I won't be done with grad school till next April, but I want to start on these credits NOW.
• I saw An Inconvenient Truth, and now I can't stop stressing about the environment.
• Living alone can be kind of lonely sometimes. But just sometimes.

I hope I don't sound whiny. I just had a lot going through my head tonight and wanted to write it down.

I want...

... a baby Shrek doll. Am I too old for this?

Am I too attached to fictional characters?

Because I have had a very emotional week as a result of TV. First came the series finale of Gilmore Girls. I don't care if it's been on for 7 years, I wasn't ready for it. It kind of sucked last year, and then the writing this year was just like the first season. Everyone keeps saying that there's not much else they could have done with the story, but I don't want to hear that.

I cried 3 times- when the town surprised Rory, when Lorelei had that talk with her parents and you knew they were finally cool with each other, and when Rory and Lorelei were ironing. Maybe it's because it has been on for 7 years, and there are not many things I was doing 7 years ago that I'm still doing now. Anyway, it was the perfect ending, I just didn't want it to end.

Then came Ugly Betty last night. I don't want to give anything away, but I cried and cried. They just had to go and tie in West Side Story. The song Somewhere makes me cry anyway. But it was brilliant how it all went together. I just worry that I'm a little too attached to get so emotional over TV. But now that Gilmore Girls is over, Ugly Betty is the only show I will watch with any regularity. So I guess I'm not that pathetic. Just a little.

Still more things to do this summer

• Have a water balloon fight
• Start collecting teacups
• Work on my dollhouse
• Go through Bust magazine and read the book recommendations
• Play in the rain
• Eat sno-cones from that lady on the west side
• Finish Sarah's gift
• See a big waterfall
• Go to the Chicago Historical Society before the Dior exhibit is gone
• Start doing vocalises again and get my voice back into shape
• Go to a rodeo and flirt with a cowboy
• Go pretend camping
• Waterpark

I keep trying to add two and two, but I've got nothing

So much craziness last weekend... the title pretty much sums it up. This is going to be a really random post- lots of stuff going on, but not much to say about any of it.

My ex's best friend texted last week and wanted to hang out that night. He ended up coming over (with a friend) on Friday, and we all went out. What I'd like to know is, what's his agenda? Everyone has his own agenda (according to Walk Two Moons, one of my favorite children's books). So what is his? Why would he want to hang out, totally out of the blue? I guess I will have to wait and see. But it was definitely good to see him.

Nina had the most brilliant idea on Saturday, when we were feeling so sick after Friday night. Since she has a studio, we moved her bed in front of the tv. We watched two movies, which I will now review for you here:

Music and Lyrics: Terrible.

Because I Said So: "Who does that? No one has EVER done that!" according to Nina. Not bad, just weird. Who talks to their mom about orgasms?

My mom made a fabulous lunch for mother's day. Too bad my brother felt the need to make rude comments throughout it. My mom was emotional because I showed up and got her a card. It's sad that she doesn't realize this is normal daughter behavior. My brother is such an ass. I hope he can get it together before he becomes a father in a few months.

This guy at work has a crush on me, and it's making me really uncomfortable. He asked my friend to tell me he's interested, because he's never even talked to me except to say hi. My friend made up some story about me going through a bad break-up, but he didn't take the hint. He wants to hang out and be friends this summer. He told my friend that I really ruffle his feathers. Eeeew! The people in my lunch period have decided that I WILL be dating someone by the time school's out. Today they voted- the band teacher or the computer guy. The band teacher won, so they texted him about dating me. Totally against my will, by the way. I think the only solution at this point is to actually find a boyfriend so they will leave me alone.

Latest countdown
14 days of school:
1 hour-long day (during which we will be eating Krispy Kremes)
1 half day
1 field day
1 picnic/outdoor movie day

So only about 11 days of teaching. I think I'm going to go get a massage on the last day of school.

Baby-Sitters Club

What should I be doing right now? Grading papers. Getting started on work for my new grad class. Doing dishes. Taking a shower and getting ready for bed. Even catching up on emails would be acceptable.

What am I doing right now? I am consumed by the need to email Ann M. Martin and tell her about my idea for a new Baby-sitters Club book. I think she needs to write an adult novel about the characters all grown up. I think there would be a huge market. All of us girls in our 20's would love to hear what happened to the girls that seemed more like best friends than book characters.

Here is what I have discovered. First of all, Ms. Ann M. Martin is difficult to email. Her official website is on the Scholastic site, and all they have are message boards. Secondly, there were actually 131 books just in the regular BSC series, and it just ended like, 6 years ago. So maybe she would not be ready for the baby sitters to be all grown up yet. After the regular BSC books came the Baby-sitters Club Friends Forever books (I think), and the series ended with the girls graduating from middle school. So now I really want this book, even though I shouldn't be spending the money. But I need closure! And since the adult baby-sitters probably isn't going to happen anytime soon, this is the next best thing. I have to know if Mary Anne and Logan stay together!