Good-Bye 2003...
Man, this year sure went by fast - and there is no way I could have predicted everything that occurred in my life. Too many things to list - but hey, I have my health, good family, awesome friends, a house, stable job, and I am content with who I am and where I am at in life right now. I may not have a "special" someone to share my good fortunes with, but that will all come in good time and when I am ready. Things seems to be falling into place nicely because I am not forcing anything to happen and that's how it should be :)

Tonight should be fun though - A-Lo will be my gorgeous date du jour and we will be having a fabulous time attending two house parties. This is how I picture A-Lo if she receives unwanted attention ->

Theme: Glam Girls - Pretty In Pink & Black

So good-bye 2003, I bid adieu... can't wait to see what 2004 has in store!

Kissing Style
In the wake of New Year's Eve, there's always the idea of that one kiss at midnight. I won't be sharing that with anyone this year, but still figured I'd take this quiz to discover my kissing style and unfortunately I'm a .... {drum roll} .... born romantic. Damn!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The great thing about being inherently romantic is that you actually enjoy kissing, according to William Cane, the New York City-based author of The Art of Kissing (St. Martin's Press) and the brain behind www.kissing.com. "Romantics are very lucky. For them, kissing provides a tender, wonderful way to stay connected with their partner. They have a natural instinct to kiss as a way to communicate love and affection. By reaching out in that manner, they continually strengthen the bond with their significant other," says Cane. Seeking out opportunities to express their fondness is second-nature to romantics, and their relationships tend to benefit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2003 PlayList
Radio stations do their top 100 countdowns and I figured what makes them so special, so below is my playlist of songs which I've enjoyed this past year. I'm not sure if there are 100 songs in total, but who cares - it's my list :) And yes, there is a song in there by the Spice Girls and it's a GOOD song so don't be disrespectin' - Peace out!

A
Aaliyah - If Your Girl Only Knew
A-Ha - Take On Me
Alien Ant Farm - Movies
Alien Ant Farm - Tia Lupe
ATB - 9 PM (Till I Come)
ATB - Don't Stop
The Avalanches - A Different Feeling
The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist

B
Bad Company - Feel Like Makin' Love
Basement Jaxx - Lucky Starr
BBMak - Back Here
Beyonce - Crazy In Love
Billy Talent - River Below
Boston - More Than A Feeling
Michelle Branch - Everywhere
Michelle Branch - Here With Me
Michelle Branch - I'd Rather Be In Love
The Breeders - Cannonball

C
Chevelle - Send The Pain Below
Eric Clapton - Change The World
Eric Clapton - My Father's Eyes
The Clash - Rock The Casbah
ColdPlay - Clocks
ColdPlay - In My Place
ColdPlay - Trouble
The Connells - Just Like That
The Corrs - Breathless
The Corrs - What Can I Do (Tin Tin Out Remix)
The Crystal Method - Born Too Slow
The Crystal Method - The Dubeliscious Groove (Fly Spanish Version)
The Crystal Method - Wild Sweet & Cool
The Cure - Close To Me

D
Daft Punk - Da Funk
Dashboard Confessional - Hands Down
Default - Deny (Acoustic Version)
Louie DeVito - La La Land - Green Velvet
Dido - Thank You
Ani DiFranco - Deep Dish
Dirty Vegas - Days Go By
Disco Tex & His Sex-O-Lettes - Jam Band
Disturbed - Fear
DJ Encore - Wanna Be With Me - Da Buzz
DJ Skribble - Phat Bass (Warp Brothers Phat Mix) - Warp Bros Vs Aguagen
Fefe Dobson - Take Me Away

E
Econoline Crush - Blunt
Missy Elliot - 4 My People
Missy Elliot - All N My Grill Featuring Big Boi of Outkast
Missy Elliot - One Minute Man (Remix) - Featuring Jay-Z
En Vogue - Don't Let Go

F
Fabolous - Can't Let You Go
Fabolous - Into You - Featuring Tamia
Fat Joe - What's Luv? - Featuring Ja Rule/Ashanti
Jose Feliciano - La Copa Rota
Felix Da Housecat - Silver Screen Shower Scene
Fugazi - Waiting Room

G
Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

H
The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So
Hot Action Cop - Feva For The Flava

I
Ice Cube - Supreme Hustle
Ice Cube - You Can Do It - Featuring Mack 10 & Ms Toi
Ima Robot - Alive

J
J&R Project - Keep It Up
Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone
Jewel - Standing Still
Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus
Jimmy Eat World - Hear You Me
Jump, Little Children - Habit

K
Korn - A.D.I.D.A.S
Korn - Hollow Life
Korn - Thoughtless

L
Led Zeppelin - All My Love
Led Zeppelin - D'yer Mak'er
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
Les Rythmes Digitales - Music Makes You Lose Control
Lil' Kim - Betcha She Don't Love You
Linkin Park - By_Myself
Linkin Park - Cure For The Itch
Linkin Park - Hit The Floor
Linkin Park - Points of Authority
Jennifer Lopez - I'm Real (Murder Remix)
Lords Of Acid - Rough Sex (Whip Mix)

M
Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby **
Mana - La Puerta Azul
Mana - Oye Mi Amor
Maria - I Give, You Take
Bob Marley - Natural Mystic
John Mayer - Your Body Is A Wonderland
Sarah McLachlan - I Will Remember You
Sarah McLachlan - Possession
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes - Save The Best For Last
Moby - Porcelain
Alanis Morissette - Head Over Feet
Alanis Morissette - Thank U

N
Nine Inch Nails - The Only Time

O
Paul Oakenfold - Piledriver (Grayed Out Summer Mix)
The Offspring - Amazed
The Offspring - Vultures
Operatica - Je Crois Entendre Encore

P
Papa Roach - Time and Time Again
Tom Petty - Wake Up Time
Tom Petty - Walls (Circus)
Liz Phair - Why Can't I?
The Pharcyde - Passing Me By
The Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
The Prodigy - Their Law - Featuring Pop Will Eat Itself

R
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name
Rammstein - Bestrafe Mich
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dosed
The Roots - The Seed 2.0 - Featuring Cody Chestnut

S
Sash! - Encore Une Fois
Seether - Fine Again
Shakira - Underneath Your Clothes
Tupac Shakur - All Eyez On Me
Tupac Shakur - Me And My Girlfriend
Frank Sinatra - The Christmas Waltz
Sneaker Pimps - Spin Spin Suga
Spice Girls - Viva Forever
Sugarcult - Pretty Girl (The Way)
Sunna - Power Struggle
System of a Down - ATWA
System of a Down - Chop Suey!
System of a Down - Toxicity

T
Tall Paul - I'd Say Yes (Lee-Cabrera Mix) - Pornorama Featuring Louise Carver
Suki Tawdry - Booze Blues (sultry voice)
Suki Tawdry - Mais Je Vous Aime
Suki Tawdry - Night Of Joy
Third Eye Blind - Blinded (When I See You)
Pete Tong - Chase The Sun - Planet Funk
Tricky - Evolution Revolution Love

V
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons - Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You (Also like Lauryn Hill Remake)
Van Morrison - Brown Eyed Girl

W
The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

Geek To Da Core!

Shockey Hockey Night!
Tonight the Shockey is back in town, which means hockey night with the girls!
Theme: skirts with tall black boots - I refer to this style as "class with sass"

"In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined."
~Thomas Szasz

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and the above quote was taken from the beginning of the book Being Different: The Autobiography of Jane Fry. I'm fascinated with how people are the way they are; from how we define our sexuality to why we are attracted to the certain types of individuals whether it be for friendship or companionship. For example, when I go out with my friend A-Lo, 9 out of 10 times I know what her "type" is. Unfortunately, I'm still confused with how the rules of attraction work or how the "dating game" is played. I'll be attracted to an intelligent guy who seems to respect me, but he doesn't call - instead, I get phone calls from "the freak" 35-year-old who probably wants me to bear his children! Needless to say, I don't pick up those calls :) Still trying to understand guys - they are such confusing creatures!

Other books I'm currently reading:
~ Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain
~ Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide
to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex by Olivia Judson
~ The Mythical Man Month by Frederick P. Brooks

Ramblings - A Long Ass Entry From A Person Who Thinks Too Much
Christmas has passed and I am very thankful for my friends and family who made things very easy for me to handle this holiday alone - without an S.O. Learned a couple of things over the hp "break":

~ It's not good to internalize how you feel no matter how unpleasant the emotion may be; rather, ask yourself "why do I feel this way" and experience the emotion. Too many times I've pushed unpleasant feelings like saddness or jealousy down inside and it hasn't been healthy.

~ It's good to talk about things that bother you no matter how uncomfortable the sitation may be. I've never had a roommate and therefore have never had to deal with things I've dealt with in the past 3 months. After Monday night's "chicken incident" I realized I had to talk with the roomie about issues that have been building up. I'm an easygoing person and prefer to keep the peace, so it was very uncomfortable for me to talk with her because I was unsure of her reaction. I made a list, talked things out with her last night and things couldn't be better!

~ We need to realize our marketability. A friend told me this; it may take some time. When you're with someone for so long, you don't look outside of that relationship to realize what other's think of you - that's the definitely the case with me.

~ A longtime friend asked me, "How many rings do you wear?" I replied that I am currently wearing 3, but I usually wear a thumb ring which would make 4. When I asked why, she said that the number of rings indicate how hard I am to please in a relationship. My reply was, "I'm not hard to please, I just have high expectations." I expect a guy to give as much as I do to the relationship. It shouldn't be a matter of I always gives and he always takes - been there, done that.

~ It never hurts to say "Thank You" if someone else has done something thoughtful for you, given something to you, or paid you a compliment.

I will end this long ass blog with a quote of my feelings on my past relationship:

"I've never been a quitta, But I do deserve betta!"
~The Black Eyed Peas (Note: Their latest album kicks ass! Me likey!)

Geek For Life!
Steve Wozniak, in his foreword to the book, "The Best of the Joy of Tech," writes, "So many of us become a bit strange to the rest of the world. It goes with the territory," he writes. "We become the geeks who can have conversations with our own types that normal people just don't understand. It's great that this cartoon exists, to make us feel proud of who we are, while laughing a bit at the disconnects of real life. The Joy of Tech comic makes us all heroes. It makes me feel like I felt reading Tom Swift, Jr. books in elementary school--that engineers can save the world from all sorts of conflict and evil."

~Amen brotha man... Preach It! My name is RunnerGirl and I'm a geek. It has been 0 minutes since my last Internet session, 2 minutes since my last ftp session, 4 minutes since my last telnet session, and 1 day since my last blog post...

Thought for the Day:
Men are like a fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

~Too bad I prefer beer... HA!

Face-Lift
LaunchCast - the awesome station I listen to at work - got a new face-lift and I'm diggin' it!



BTW - woke up the other night to footsteps on my hardwood floors. Listened for a little, then realized it was my roomy's headboard banging rhythmically against the wall - the accompanying moans verified my assumption. Damn her! Can't she sympathize with a sista...

Always remember...
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying: "Damn...that was fun!"

Ode to Mariea - This is Just a Tribute
Today was tough day. Four people within our organization were laid off and one of them really meant a lot to me. Mariea. She was my project manager/manager and also my mentor. She embodies everything I want to be as a project manager, manager, and female professional. She had a lot of ideas of what could be done within the company, she definitely made our web team what it is, she lent me her bedroom set after I moved into my house, she put up with upper management, didn't let things get her down - and she did all of this with a positive attitude, smile, and strength unmatched by anyone! She was also very open and honest about what was going on within the company - not a trait people see in managers. I could go on forever about Mariea and the positive influence she had on me - but one thing remains the same, I will miss her!

Side Note
Management mentioned about how overhead costs needed to be cut, but Mariea was billable as a project manager - no overhead costs. She just had a fresh, new point of view that I don't think could be handled by the old school. I will follow her lead though - as far as saying what is on my mind and letting management know how I view the company and where I believe we could do better. I plan on doing my thesis next semester on project management and basing it on the Standish Group Chaos Report - TNG will be a case study. When the thesis is complete, I will hand-deliver it to the CEO. That will be my tribute to Mariea - damn the man!

Final Note
I respect the CEO for the way he handled things. Rather than send out an email announcing the layoffs, he spoke to us all about his decision, invited questions and was really open about the whole thing. He also seemed to take the responsibility of the decision upon himself by saying he had laid off four people rather than saying, "The company has decided." Didn't like what he had to say, but respect him.

ARE YOU A GOOD JUDGE OF CHARACTER FROM A PICTURE?

Take this quiz - Programming Language Inventor OR Serial Killer Quiz
BY LOOKING AT A PICTURE OF A PERSON, YOU HAVE TO DECIDE IF
HE IS A COMPUTER PROGRAM LANGUAGE INVENTOR OR A SERIAL KILLER. GO WITH YOUR GUT FEELING.

~I scored 9/10~

Top 10: Traits Of A Great Girlfriend
Are these traits really what a guy wants in a girlfriend?

10. She's independent
9. She's intelligent
8. She's sexual
7. She's beautiful
6. She respects you
5. She lets you be a man
4. She's nagless
3. She gets along with friends & family
2. She loves you
1. She makes you want to be a better man

Comment Away!
Today I added the capability for readers of my blog (I pity the fools) to add comments! This is such an awesome functionality & it was easy to integrate with blogger - especially with the guidance of ma man Mike! You go Mikey! Check out blogkomm. I give props to this tool in my links section because it's free!

Side note - for everyone interested in da Bushman - he finally finished the Geek Test (you know those crazy Mac users, always taking their sweet time!) and he got a .... drum roll please ..... 29.78304% - Total Geek! Way to go my geek brotha :)

~ Peace. We outta here ~

Guys Prefer ... Brains?
Who would've thunk it! I always figured a guy wanted a girl to look a certain way or act a certain way- especially the way our society places such importance on a woman's face/body size/breasts, etc. - but seems gentlemen prefer a girl w/brains. Wonder what guys think of a girl who is independent and brainy - maybe too much to handle for most :) Look out spinsterhood, here I come!

Three-Fold Utopian Dream
Got my new bedroom set yesterday and I must say it is the most beautiful thing I have laid eyes on! I feel sooo spoiled - like a little princess :) I can't wait until I can have 8+ hours of sleep on that bed. I never dreamed a bed could be so soft, wonderful, and cozy all at the same time - like a cloud! Sweet Dreams...

Dog Tails - A Bitching Story
Last night my roomie left me dumbfounded. It was getting close to 11p and the dogs had to be pottied, so I let them out (my roomie wasn't home). When I went to let them back in, the yellow dog took off down the street! Side note - her dogs are not trained to come when they are called; actually, they're not really trained at all but they're nice dogs. Anywho, after trying to get the dog on foot (10 mins) I call my roomie & she's in a movie which had just started. She tells me I'll need to get in my car to get him, because he'll get in. She DOES NOT leave the movie!! That's the part that stupified me! If my dog was running around the neighborhood and couldn't be found, I would get my ass out of the movie theater and try to find my dog! After 45 minutes of driving around, getting out and walking around different blocks with the other dog (this all took place after 11p), I spotted the dog & got him to get in the car. I called to inform the roomie that I'd gotten her dog back - and yes, she was STILL in the movie...

Positive twist to this story: I wanted to call someone to bitch to about the situation and the only person who I thought would be up was my bro; he was. We had an awesome chat and I think he's pretty awesome - plus he was pretty funny (as always)! Brothers are the BOMB - sometimes you wanna kick their butts, other times you realize how lucky you are that they're in your life!

Pinky and the Brain
Will this show be cancelled? Stay tuned...