Monday, January 25, 2010

2 a.m. and I'm blogging 'cause I'm still awake...

I've got a bit on insomnia going again. This of course throws my whole routine into disarray. Instead of operating during normal working hours, I spend half the night puttering around and half the day pushing the snooze button on my mobile.

It wouldn't be so bad if I were in any way productive during these late night hours. I could be cleaning my room, working for my job, commenting on the countless blogs I read/stalk, blogging myself, or plowing through an inch or two of the immense stack of reading I need to catch up on. (Remember how I'm going to graduate school?)

But no.

Instead, I clock an embarrassing number of hours on Facebook, IMDB, Google Reader, and the BBC iPlayer.

I know this bad habit I'm forming is mostly my fault, but as was helpfully pointed out to me yesterday in Sunday school, passing the buck was one of the natural man's tendencies from pretty much the very beginning...

So I'm more than happy to split the blame with the fact that there's basically perpetual darkness in London this time of year. The weather man says it's getting a little lighter every day, but until I can kick this habit and see for myself what can I say? I suppose only this:

I don't believe him. And winter just isn't my season...

Friday, January 01, 2010

Flashback Friday: 2009 Year in Review

I tend not to make New Year's Resolutions--officially at least--but one thing that never fails to make my nonexistent list is journal writing. I am officially the world's worst journal writer. My paltry attempts to jumpstart my chronicling could literally fill a bookcase with beautiful notebooks full of empty pages.

So my first unofficial goal of 2010 is to sketch out a little more of my life than I did in 2009, which is sadly best represented through my (usually sketchy) facebook statii:

In January, Meagan Brady:
6 • writes on steamy mirrors and frosty windows
12 • dreamt about the freshman dorms and woke up feeling young again...
18 • spent 24 of the last 48 hours in InDesign and now feels InDesposed...
21 • coughs a second-hand smoke serenade
23 • buys plane tickets to Seattle from her Denver hotel room. She loves her job but misses her bed...

In February, Meagan Brady:
3 • never did like rodents. She supports Spring and the right to bare arms.
9 • prickles at needles.
13 • bad grammar makes me [sic].
17 • can't wake up in the morning 'cause her bed lies vacant at night...
24 • attempts to clean her room. Again. (Once more unto the breach, my friends.)
27 • has been reduced to checking under her bed for monsters. Thanks a lot guys.
27 • sighs over sushi. Yum.

In March, Meagan Brady:
3 • is walking the dog. And her puppies too.
5 • once was blind but now she sees...
7 • wishes she could start every day with a baptism.
9 • thinks there's nothing quite getting an early start Monday morning...
10 • would rather be the second mouse...
12 • is sleepless in Seattle. Sans Tom Hanks. But with a sweet Meg Ryan early 90s-esque windblown 'do.
15 • is still sleepless in Seattle, but on a plane stuck on the runway. Not as cool.
16 • has a tummy ache from too much water and too much laughing.
21 • misses Sammy
23 • is manic mondaying. per the usual.
26 • is surprised at the number of pics that were on her camera. Oops.
30 • never knew that late nights + 'special brownies' + Mexican train = mayhem housed in faux Spanish accents. Fabulous.

In April, Meagan Brady:
1 • prepares to mess with texas...
4 • kind of loves Southern accents...
11 • soaks in rain and baseball. Love it.
15 • feels talking politics might make for more inane conversation than the talking about the weather. At least for today.
18 • knows way more about css files than she ever really wanted to...
19 • does not speak HTML...
21 • made her bed at 9 p.m. and it looked so comfy she got right in it!
26 • is going through tissues faster than Kleenex can chop down trees.

In May, Meagan Brady:
4 • thinks a little bit of mascara goes a long way to improve a Monday morning...
12 • is hoarse from cheering. Orem LAX is going to state!
16 • wishes flying were as fun as it used to be.
17 • 's birthday was earth-shattering. Well, at least earth-quaking...
27 • wants to sit on the front porch and eat a popsicle. So she is.

In June, Meagan Brady:
2 • is an 'uncle' again!
11 • hasn't been this tired since Winter Semester Finals Week 2004.
18 • only wants to play all day!
22 • STRESSES ALL THE TIME.
23 • burns things to melt stress. Thanks, friends...
24 • has been transformed...
25 • intends to live forever. So far, so good.
29 • + 2 weeks in July = East coast(ish) vacation(ish).

In July, Meagan Brady:
7 • might be leaking a little bit...
7 • is missing her flight. Right. This. Second.
9 • loves how her prairie diamond sparkles in the sunlight.
14 • just stopped at a red light and saw police in vests with drawn weapons start canvassing a neighborhood on Chicago's south side.
14 • waits for Harry Potter and reflects that she didn't stop to think about the consequences of wearing a black jumper and sweater, grey tights, and Mary Janes when she got dressed this morning...
16 • relaxes with a Boston cooler after a day of far off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, a prince in disguise, and imaginative, rambunctious cousins.
17 • eats lunch in the original greasy spoon cafe after literally running into Sister Tiffanee Barker in Kirtland, Ohio.
17 • 's car broke down in Buffalo, so she's chillaxing in the lobby of a hotel where she doesn't have reservations...
17 • arrives safe and sound in Rochester with a story that will make you cry with laughter.
19 • flies home with a ten-hour layover in NYC. Oh the possibilities...
19 • flops into Jet Blue seat 12F after a day of Liberty and Ellis Islands, Ground Zero, Trinity Church, the Manhattan Temple, Central Park, Times Square, and a hotdog outside Grand Central Station.
21 • endorses Photobooth as the next big thing in ab workouts...
22 • may or may not be watching Killer Klowns from Outer Space, but she's also eating homemade raspberry shortcake. So...
23 • dropped $1300 on a housing deposit and is starting to realize just how poor she's gonna be for the next 12 months...
29 • is ranch dressing. (As in dressing for the ranch...)

In August, Meagan Brady:
3 • braces for another 24-hour crush.
3 • thinks she might be hyperventilating, but can't get enough oxygen in her brain to know for sure.
4 • appreciates people who help her talk it out and walk it off...
5 • came blearily stumbling in at 2AM to find a bottle of Pine-Sol in the fridge and a bottle of white grape juice on the counter. Her sixth sense says that someone has it in for her. Or maybe it was just 'The 6th Sense'...
13 • did the math. She has time for 38 more 24-hour crushes plus one 12-hour fling. Hmmm...
17 • sure does some stupid things for being such a smart alec...
21 • is going to the doctor. There will most likely be blood involved.
23 • takes masochism to a whole new level.
25 • needs a break from work ASAP.
28 • just blew through a 200-page manuscript in two hours. It's amazing what eight hours of sleep does for the brain...
29 • loves the smell of asbestos in the morning...
29 • may have used Lysol wipes instead of baby wipes to get all the dirt off her face. So this is what a chemical peel feels like...

In September, Meagan Brady:
1 • sold her car and did three loads of laundry this morning. She hasn't been this productive since that one time she cleaned her room back in 1997...
4 • is a speed demon. A safe speed demon.
13 • wants to go on a scenic drive. Probably not in the middle of the night though...
14 • can finally plan her London debut outfit based on the weather.com 10-day weather report.
18 • limps like a gimp from a charlie horse, of course.
21 • hates the sound that goodbyes make.
23 • made it to London. Sans luggage.
24 • has no dishes. So she's alternating Cheerios straight from the box and milk straight from the carton. Judge if you must...
25 • has luggage! And dishes! Now life is just a BOWL of Cheerios...
27 • loved Baroque night at St. Martin-in-the-Fields just as much as ever. Broken back night not as much.
27 • was an English major, so she's just going to say Happy 18th Birthday, Mom! (For the 32nd time.) All you math majors can solve for 'x'.
29 • dreams of Cortisone shots and memory foam mattress toppers...
29 • needs to pick out a first day of school outfit. Strangely, having an entire wardrobe of only four choices doesn't make the process any easier.

In October, Meagan Brady:
1 • saw Les Mis again last night. It was awesome. And as always, it reminded her how fabulous Orem High's production was. Now I am homesick. ):
1 • is here to audition for the role of kicker.
6 • thought it was just a drill, but those fire trucks were pretty real...
15 • is the blog-stalker from London showing up in your analytics.
20 • spent the morning with a first edition of the Book of Mormon in her hot little hands.
30 • is Mrs. Peacock, in the Library, with the Candlestick.

In November, Meagan Brady:
2 • thinks she has Daylight Savings to thank for her internal clock being reset to Mountain Standard Time...
3 • broke a World Record today. And saw Colin Firth. But not in that order.
8 • burns the candle from both ends. And up the middle. With a blowtorch.
11 • picks herself up off the floor after a pudding oh-so-appropriately labeled as 'chocolate overload'...
13 • is a mover and a breaker, apparently...
16 • plans to celebrate her half-birthday in style.
18 • has become nocturnal of late.
20 • gives you everything just by breathing...
24 • was on Team Jacob before you were. Or would be, if she cared enough to pick a team. But she doesn't. Obviously.
28 • sends good vibes to Provo from across the pond. And you can bet she's decked out in Cougar blue!
29 • now knows that someone whispering German sweet nothings into her ear isn't romantic, but rather...wet...

In December, Meagan Brady:
3 • is doing the same thing she does every day.
5 •loves when people break into spontaneous yet meticulously choreographed song and dance. And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die!
7 • just sold herself for £12...
10 • comforts herself that the 3-degree weather back home can be offset by long, hot, high-pressure showers...
12 • packs her suitcase full of goodies for all the good little boys and girls back home...
13 • IS FLYING HOME IN TWELVE HOURS!!!!!! (Er, not that she's excited about it or anything...:)
15 • is home, she's safe, she's alive (:
16 • takes here a nap, there a nap, everywhere a nap, nap.
20 • has missed all the fun stuff you can do in a car.
20 • did not mean it like that.
21 • used to play sports. Then she realized you can buy trophies. Now she’s good at everything.
22 • loves her some Cougar football!
23 • catches her breath at the shock of electricity that passes between us...
24 • orders her Christmas Eve pizza Good King Wenceslas-style: deep pan, crisp, and even...
28 • must. sleep.
28 • lives vicariously through herself.