strange smells in the night air

went out on the porch for a second and i swear, i think someone is burning sandalwood incense outside somewhere -- it smells like my first apartment, so much that my nose actually burned from it. strange.

abbey and i have a bedtime ritual of me staying in her room with her at night until she falls asleep -- it's a nice time to just talk about stuff, everything from what friends said and did in the day to what she wants to do for her birthday party (that won't be until march). last night i was next to her until she fell asleep and usually i'm so preoccupied about doing this or that that i don't just sit and listen to her sleep. but last night i just stayed an extra moment or two and listened to her breathe. many days i forget about what she was like when she was really young, but last night the way she slept, the way she would exhale and have those little falling asleep leg jerks -- it was very much like when she was really little. she's pretty amazing.

and now my moment of nice thoughts is ruined by effing Fox news. god, the way they are going on about the LYING ads about john kerry's service record, you would think kerry would have been responsible for misleading a country into war...... oh wait, that was OUR PRESIDENT.

and where is that sandalwood smell coming from? jeez....

i want to watch a dvd. not sure what i feel like, so i am stranded in cable tv land out of sheer laziness.

a blog here in blogger was brought up on the main page as a blog they have noticed lately. it's entitled Prison Pete and no, it's not just a clever name. it's a blog written by a prison inmate -- via writing by hand and then his editor inputs everything. i think that's how it works. anyhow, Prison Pete doesn't discolse specifics about why he was incarcerated, but that whatever it was, he pled guilty and was sentenced to 8 years or something like that in one prison, and is now trying to avoid serving a separate sentence for the same crime in NY for another i don't know how many years. anyhow it's pretty strange reading it, sometimes feeling a bit sorry for him and then questioning myself. "what did he do to get such a huge sentence?" he made the comparison about how people who murder others get less time than what he got, so it's not that. i keep thinking that i shouldn't read it anymore, b/c i'll find out he was a pederass or something, but then i go back for more. strange compulsion, like a train wreck. anyways, it's worth a look-see.

now, shameless begging:

WANTED: A COUCH. PLEASE DELIVER ASAP.

so my oldest sister is in town this weekend w/her son, so tomorrow will begin with a few rounds of bowling, then some lunch, some time for all the cousins to play (and ultimately fight, throw hissy fits and experience cousin rivalry) and then hopefully we'll fit in some couch shopping time.

and now a list of things i like and things i hate:
like:
- abbey
- dustin
- cable tv
- the smell of sheets and towels fresh from the dryer
- eyeliner
- target (when i have money to spend)
- tattoos (ones done after the age of 19)
- cats
- pad thai
- al franken
- that moment when you first lay down in bed, realizing that you are not required to get up for at least six hours
- smoking (when i don't cough like a mofo)
- that i've lived through a horrible experience, lived through re-living that experience and both kick ass and take names
- four poster beds
- argyle (socks are good, cardigans are better)
- coca cola

and now a list of things that i don't like:
- infomercials (b/c i can't turn away)
- target (when i don't have money to spend)
- tattoos (ones done before i turned 20)
- aroma of cat urine
- george w. bush as president (i think as a neighbor or mailman he'd be fine)
- smoking (or worse, the horrible NEED to smoke)
- curry
- reese witherspoon (no real reason; just not a fan)
- that moment when you've fallen asleep, you have a horrifying dream that someone is going to hurt you, and you can't fall back to sleep
- that i will have to be on medication for the rest of my life
- that what i take medication for will never go away
- a mattress on the floor because my box spring won't fit up the stairway
- diet coke (heresy!)

hmm. not a bad list.

time for an online poll:

MARRIAGE:

NEAT IDEA OR JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PRY?