Things I Generally Wouldn't Say Aloud

Communication curtails chaos

2010-06-25T13:08:00.013-05:00

It's no shocking matter that I love the observe people and learn about the way they work, the way they think and process information, and the way they convey this information to other human beings, therein continuing the vicious cycle. As a customer service representative in a call center for a mobile phone company, one of the top ten largest in the world, I have gotten the opportunity to speak with a never-ending array of people from throughout the United States. Of course, no one calls customer service to chat; there is always a problem at the root of the call. This has given me a better opportunity to observe people than I could have hoped (which is the only solace I get from working in said call center).

Communication is not just about talking; it covers nearly every aspect of human existence and most certainly every aspect of human development. With every new development, idea, discovery, it has to be communicated, at which time it is mostly likely further developed through communication until these developments can be communicated to the appropriate person/people. Human beings are built to communicate. Even shut-ins with which no one to communicate will communicate with themselves.

When the communication process stops, human development ceases. Personally, I have never been more frustrated than when the communication process deteriorates. It is during these times when human beings are no longer able to move forward. Those developments are no longer being made, whether in one's personal life, relationships, or even career. Nearly everyone has experienced this frustration while fighting with a loved one. Although both parties may be yelling and words are being said, communication ceases and, while the development of the fight may continue, the resolution is impossible until communication is restored. It is during times of fighting, not only in personal relationships but throughout the world, that people behave most inhumanly, due largely to the deterioration of the ever essential communication for a resolution.

Methods of communication are continually being developed. Just last year, the number of mobile phones outgrew the number of home phones utilized by United States residents, further proving that human beings need methods of communicating at all times, not just while they are at home or near a pay phone. Mobile phones are being further developed; cameras are standard on all, and now dual facing cameras allow people to communicate both verbally and nonverbally through the telephone. With the development of technology and the expansion of peoples' lives, people are becoming more detached from one another physically, and technology is relied upon more heavily in order to establish a foundation of communication that is crucial to human life.

Through watching people, albeit over the phone, certain trends occur in cyclic patterns. When customers call customer care to resolve a problem they are having with the most useful tool in their daily lives, I've noticed that, not only do I become frustrated with the deterioration of communication, but lack of communication creates chaos among normal, average, everyday people. I speak with people five days of the week who have a problem with their mobile phones, whether their phones have broken, they have no network coverage, or they cannot pay their bill and fear service interruption. The majority of the calls I receive are because, in one way or another, the caller's communication has been cut off, and their phone no longer works. Speaking with these people, I do my best to help restore their services because, truly, I do know how important it is to be able to communicate, but often as the call begins, and the person on the other end is upset, sometimes crying, yelling, cursing to the heavens, I simply think they are crazy. I think they are crazy until I work to resolve their issue at which time, it is almost as if a switch is flipped, their service is restored, and they become normal, rational, coherent human beings. It is not, in most cases, that they want to get out of paying their bill; one of their most used methods of growing and developing have been cut off. Even if the caller is to blame, being upset is understandable. I often wonder if these people look back on those conversations we had and think, 'Why was I such an ass?' or, 'Why on Earth was I crying to customer care?' but after speaking with enough people who simply have this switch flipped with the resolution of their communication problem, it is safe to say that communication truly does curtail chaos.

A cat in the window

2010-03-30T21:03:00.003-05:00

I'm moving to Seattle in September. People always ask me, "Why Seattle?" or "Why are you moving?" and I never really know what to tell them except, "Because I want to, fool."

The other day, I was sitting in my mom's living room, and her cat was sitting in the window. Every cat I've ever known, and I've known plenty, has enjoyed doing this. I've owned cats my entire life, rarely going more than two years without one. Every time I watch one of my cats, I think about what a great life that cat has. Every time I begrudgingly walk out the door to work, I look at my cats and scoff at their easy lives. They get fed daily, they do what they want, they're protected within these four walls, and they have no responsibility. I always think, "WHY can't I be a cat?!"

It's always when I see a cat sitting in the window, watching the happenings of the outside world that I feel sad for them. I no longer envy them, but pity them. That day, my mom turned to her cat (because we all talk to our cats, so let's not kid ourselves) and said, "What are you watching out there?" and I answered, "Life," without thinking much about it. It wasn't until the minutes that followed that I did take a moment to think about what that meant. The thought that plagues me the most is that an indoor domestic cat, at least mine, have never felt wind. I'm not particularly fond of wind, but if I had never felt it on my skin, if all I had ever felt was this constant, indoor air, I would've clawed myself out of this skin by now.

Ultimately, at the end of my pondering, the result was the choice, cat or life? Sure, being a cat is easy, but you're left sitting in that window, watching life go by. You're never able to chase what you so desperately want just on the other side of that glass. We've all seen a cat chase a bug on the other side of the window, and most people laugh at this, but it breaks my heart, watching this animal that, through no fault of its own, is a cat and can't go beyond that barrier.

Yes, being a human being, in most cases, is harder. It comes with more responsibilities, and struggles, and pain, and heartache, but ultimately, it's the trade off for being able to open that door. It's the trade off for being able to live a full life. Cat owners buy their cats catnip, toys, scratching posts, etc. to subconsciously try to provide them the full lives we know they're not living.

I could certainly stay in Tennessee, where I have been my whole life. I could do well in Tennessee and eat and breathe and exist in Tennessee, but Tennessee is my house, and I'm merely a cat in that house. I long to chase the things I see outside. I long to feel the wind on my face. And that is why I'm moving to Seattle.

Grace in Small Things: Part 365 of 365

2010-01-03T12:57:00.001-06:00

1.) Sitting in a private box!

2.) Endless amounts of support from my friends and family

3.) Breaking the chains

4.) One last time, my mom

5.) Falling in love

Grace in Small Things: Part 364 of 365

2010-01-02T12:55:00.002-06:00

1.) Entering Greece through Athens restaurant :P

2.) Mixing and matching plates with the people around me

3.) Tom Hanks

4.) A cat that's smart enough to know how to get to the cords of the ceiling fan, even if it's by jumping on my back

5.) The mutual understanding between my cats and me that cuddling is great until I'm hot or need to move, and then it's off the bed they go

Grace in Small Things: Part 363 of 365

2010-01-01T22:43:00.002-06:00

1.) "Twenty-ten," rather than "Two-thousand ten"

2.) Exchanging youtube videos with my nephew

3.) Seeing Joely at KMart

4.) Mom bought me face cream :)

5.) Salvaging a massacre of tables

Grace in Small Things: Part 362 of 365

2009-12-31T14:02:00.002-06:00

1.) New years!

2.) Giving Mandi my loved ones

3.) Reacquainting with old good friends

4.) Watching reruns of Glee to tide me over

5.) Cosmo really is the best cuddling cat in the world

Grace in Small Things: Part 361 of 365

2009-12-30T21:21:00.002-06:00

1.) Therapy through writing

2.) Tangerines

3.) Chicken. On a stick.

4.) Brian read subtitles for half of a movie out loud because I couldn't read them.

5.) Singing Mulan songs as loud as I can to embarrass the people around me

Desensitization by Screens

2009-12-29T19:14:00.008-06:00

I realize that I hardly actually compose enough entries within this blog to maintain it, but I do like it, and those two times a year when I'm struck with something, I like that it's here. School ran me very dry from inspiration, and every uninspired word I could think up was devoted to the final papers of my college career. Nothing to write home about, I assure you.

Most of the things by which I am struck are very known common knowledge. This will be no different. This began about thirty minutes ago as I was watching a movie. The movie is irrelevant, except for the fact that there are at least two characters in this movie. Near the end of one scene, as I watched the characters on the screen of my laptop, I thought, 'Those were two real people, in the same room at some point.' Now, I know. Of course, those are real people, and the actors are still alive and well, I'm sure, but this thought struck me because I have had a lot of experience with computer screens in the past year or so.

As I've mentioned before, when I have written, I began a relationship. The circumstances were less than ideal, considering the respective geographical locations of each person involved, but it persisted through the immense aid of Skype, a computer program through which people can voice chat, type chat, video chat, etc. Essentially, and probably brutally honestly, I began a relationship with a computer screen. I had some friends suggest this computer screen was actually a sixty-three year old man in California who liked to touch himself, but I had faith in my computer screen.

A couple of months ago, I read an article about a Japanese man who married his gaming character. The article pointed out the ridiculousness of it all, but somewhere, there was a tiny part of me that understood. Afterall, I had a relationship with a computer screen. I'd have married the computer screen and been painfully happy. Of course, I always wanted more than a computer screen, but if a computer screen was what I could get, then a computer screen it was.

I've always heard it said that people are desensitized by movies and television, and, while I think this could be true, I think that it is the actual screen that desensitizes. That is why it is so easy to criticize someone on a screen, whether it is an actor on television or in a movie, or just a blogger or a poster in a forum on the internet. The screen gives the appearance that he/she is not real, in addition to the anonymity that the screen yields.

This is such a profound thought for me because I met the person on the other side of the computer screen recently. Of course, I knew this person was real, and I even knew that I would meet her, but this meeting was essentially unexplainable... which makes for bad writing I suppose, but the point is that it took time to realize that this person does exist. This person does eat, breathe, and sleep. This person has a real heartbeat. In the short days that we were together, I grew accustomed to a real human being interacting with my actions and seeing me throughout my daily life. Needless to say, it was a much different dynamic than the relationship with the screen had been.

This meeting took place throughout the course of a vacation, of course, and the Nashville leg of the vacation is over. I thought the day I dropped my visitors off at the airport, I would wake up the next day thinking that it had been a dream. Unfortunately this didn't happen. I woke up the next morning remembering what it was like to have a real human being in the same room as me. I woke up the next morning remembering what it was like to talk to a person rather than a computer screen. My friends say that I should revel in the memories and be happy that they happened, and I am happy they happened -- ecstatic, in fact, but, no matter how hard I try, those memories don't detract from the feeling that has been left with me and my computer screen.

Grace in Small Things: Part 360 of 365

2009-12-29T19:12:00.002-06:00

1.) Left over Sprite from Sev

2.) Learning the exact equation of Avatar: 1/3 Pocahontas + 5/6 Fern Gully + 1/6 Mulan

3.) Sigourney Weaver's bad acting

4.) Teaching Armenian to Team Pie (probably incorrectly)

5.) Delivery nights!

Grace in Small Things: Part 359 of 365

2009-12-28T19:10:00.001-06:00

1.) Being inspired

2.) Watching free movies

3.) Catching up with the older movies that the rest of the world has already seen

4.) Understanding the humor in Princess Pride

5.) Peanut butter balls made by Brian

Grace in Small Things: Part 358 of 365

2009-12-27T17:54:00.002-06:00

1.) The little girl at Pie recognizing my bracelet

2.) Rollin', rollin', rollin' on the river

3.) Seeing quite possibly the last movie of this year that I will see with Brian tonight

4.) Realizing all of my possibilities

5.) Being excited about the future :)

Grace in Small Things: Part 357 of 365

2009-12-26T17:52:00.001-06:00

1.) Glowing from the previous weeks

2.) Sleeping in late at mum's

3.) Getting back into the swing of working again

4.) Realizing that I no longer have school as a responsibility

5.) Getting over the sadness and being happy for having the memories

Grace in Small Things: Part 356 of 365

2009-12-25T17:51:00.002-06:00

1.) My last few hours hanging out with Araz and Sev

2.) Finally impressing Sev with food from America, made by my mum!

3.) Movies with mum

4.) Leftover sweet potato casserole

5.) Pomegranate jello salad

Grace in Small Things: Part 355 of 365

2009-12-24T17:49:00.001-06:00

1.) Wrapping presents

2.) Finding the big red bows for Edna!

3.) Talking to Edna on the phone in Armenian

4.) Stuffing stockings

5.) Celebrating Christmas with the best loved ones in all the land!

Grace in Small Things: Part 354 of 365

2009-12-23T17:48:00.002-06:00

1.) Alleviating really awkwardly silent, 8 hour car rides with musical run downs

2.) Cheddar cheese

3.) Watching "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" while finishing off the last pint of ice cream

4.) Arriving safely back home

5.) Preparing for Christmas

Grace in Small Things: Part 353 of 365

2009-12-22T17:46:00.002-06:00

1.) Jambalaya

2.) Realizing that my aunt's etouffee really is the best!

3.) Oak Alley plantation

4.) The man who told me where gas was in the tiny town next to Oak Alley

5.) Enthusiastic concierges

Grace in Small Things: Part 352 of 365

2009-12-21T17:45:00.002-06:00

1.) Drives to New Orleans

2.) Introducing chili cheese fries to the Aussies

3.) Realizing the similar tastes between Root Beer and Listerine

4.) The French Quarter!

5.) Beignets!

Grace in Small Things: Part 351 of 365

2009-12-20T17:43:00.001-06:00

1.) Drives to Memphis

2.) Memphis BBQ with Beanie

3.) Nolan!

4.) His son Avery, the tennis player

5.) Walking with my feet 10 feet off of Beale!

Grace in Small Things: Part 350 of 365

2009-12-19T17:40:00.002-06:00

1.) GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE!

2.) Beginning new chapters in life

3.) My last college dinner at Puleo's Grille

4.) Gunner!

5.) My family coming to my graduation

Grace in Small Things: Part 349 of 365

2009-12-18T17:39:00.001-06:00

1.) Picking Araz and Sev up from the airport

2.) Grocery shopping, American style

3.) THREE different Ben and Jerry's flavors!

4.) Opryland at Christmas time

5.) Taste testing sweet teas

Grace in Small Things: Part 348 of 365

2009-12-17T17:38:00.001-06:00

1.) Massive cleaning sprees

2.) Landing job interviews

3.) New toilet seats

4.) Brothers being better than Drain-o!

5.) An anxious night!

Grace in Small Things: Part 347 of 365

2009-12-16T23:00:00.003-06:00

1.) Working my last shift before I graduate!

2.) A bit more Christmas shopping

3.) Clearing clutter from my living room

4.) Fixing my vacuum!

5.) Accomplishing that which seems impossible

Grace in Small Things: Part 346 of 365

2009-12-15T22:58:00.001-06:00

1.) Starting Christmas shopping

2.) Free See's suckers

3.) Free VS undies

4.) Yelling in parking lots

5.) Embarrassing Brian

Grace in Small Things: Part 345 of 365

2009-12-14T22:55:00.002-06:00

1.) Banana pancakes

2.) Flooded bathrooms

3.) Keeping it together. For the most part.

4.) Taxi rides!

5.) Finding a hole in the paid parking system

Grace in Small Things: Part 344 of 365

2009-12-13T22:53:00.002-06:00

1.) NOT killing Araz and Sev

2.) Finally finding everyone's place of lodging

3.) Gino's deep dish pizza!

4.) Meeting up with Xan, Gidge, and Shiva

5.) Warm nights

Grace in Small Things: Part 343 of 365

2009-12-12T22:51:00.002-06:00

1.) The weather in Chicago isn't that bad!

2.) The drive went well!

3.) The Hyatt at McCormick Place is nice

4.) Traipsing around the hotel barefooted, sporting my huge bruise with my Aussie shorts

5.) Being too giddy to sleep

Grace in Small Things: Part 342 of 365

2009-12-11T22:49:00.002-06:00

1.) Working my last shift before I go to Chicago!

2.) Clean laundry to pack

3.) Not unpacking a suitcase until I need to repack it again for another trip

4.) Realizing that the broken vacuum is a ten dollar fix!

5.) Looking like "someone"

Grace in Small Things: Part 341 of 365

2009-12-10T22:48:00.001-06:00

1.) Getting my car back!

2.) Sparkly blue paint!

3.) Remembering how to drive a manual

4.) Downy

5.) Shiny new headlights!

Grace in Small Things: Part 340 of 365

2009-12-09T00:33:00.001-06:00

1.) Turning in my LAST paper! Like, Ever!

2.) Christapha! brought me the Glee soundtrack, vol. 2!

3.) "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper

4.) And THIS video of hers!

5.) Thinking about what's next. Exciting!

Grace in Small Things: Part 339 of 365

2009-12-08T00:32:00.001-06:00

1.) My LAST class! Like, Ever!

2.) Until I decide to go to more school. Let's be honest here. I'm a nerd.

3.) Giving that stupid, unaligned rental car back.

4.) Nearly broken toes feeling almost 100% better!

5.) Final portfolios full of Pie in the Sky papers. I'm so funny.

Grace in Small Things: Part 338 of 365

2009-12-07T00:30:00.002-06:00

1.) Sitting at the doctor's for five hours

2.) Moral support from Mandi

3.) The way Mandi misspells her name.

4.) John Lennon's "Imagine"

5.) John Lennon's "Real Love", covered by Regina Spektor, of course

Grace in Small Things: Part 337 of 365

2009-12-06T00:28:00.001-06:00

1.) 2-4-1's with DeckDeck

2.) Alfredo mixed with Pesto

3.) Dreams being fiction. SO glad that dream I had didn't come true!

4.) Christapha! brought me the Glee soundtrack, vol. 1!

5.) Surviving a fall off the bed!

Grace in Small Things: Part 336 of 365

2009-12-05T13:48:00.003-06:00

1.) That full night's sleep I got. I was SO tired.

2.) Glee this week! It was SO good.

3.) Not to speak too soon, but I think I've trained Ellie. Somewhat.

4.) Thinking of delicious food. I live vicariously through these thoughts.

5.) Silence

Grace in Small Things: Part 335 of 365

2009-12-04T13:46:00.001-06:00

1.) Safe flights in big planes

2.) Daily emails

3.) Mandi's support of my evil ways

4.) Purring kitties

5.) Laughing off an irrationally irate manager

Grace in Small Things: Part 334 of 365

2009-12-03T13:44:00.002-06:00

1.) Building portfolios

2.) Editing "formats" of said portfolios

3.) Pie's cooperation with my needy ways

4.) Buying school supplies for the first time this semester

5.) Hanging out with the big dog and company

Grace in Small Things: Part 333 of 365

2009-12-02T13:41:00.002-06:00

1.) Knowing that more often than not, real life really is stranger than fiction

2.) First day back from suspension!

3.) Interviews with Russell

4.) Eavesdropping servers

5.) My first pizza from Midtown!

Grace in Small Things: Part 332 of 365

2009-12-01T13:38:00.001-06:00

1.) Today begins the one week countdown to the end of school!

2.) Two successful presentations

3.) Being done with school work until Friday!

4.) Collecting financial data

5.) Leaving snarky voicemails for the awful insurance guy who is handling my claim

Grace in Small Things: Part 331 of 365

2009-11-30T00:22:00.001-06:00

1.) Hamburger Helper!

2.) Rometrius's music

3.) Cats that are happy to see me

4.) Getting out of class on our own accord

5.) My car may be done Friday?

Grace in Small Things: Part 330 of 365

2009-11-29T00:19:00.002-06:00

1.) Drive in movies

2.) Working Lennox Village

3.) Being bombarded with messages from two years ago

4.) A four minute drive to work!

5.) Sleeping through the night

Grace in Small Things: Part 329 of 365

2009-11-28T00:17:00.001-06:00

1.) Realizing that human worth is more valuable than a good sale

2.) Lounging lazy days with mom

3.) The way Harley hates me

4.) The way Cosmo and Ellie miss me

5.) Elf on cable tv!

Grace in Small Things: Part 328 of 365

2009-11-27T00:16:00.002-06:00

1.) Memories from Jumbo House

2.) Julissa

3.) Bank jobs, maybe?

4.) Mahjongg

5.) A Twitter Thanksgiving

Grace in Small Things: Part 327 of 365

2009-11-26T00:14:00.001-06:00

1.) Thanksgiving!

2.) Stealing mom's internet

3.) Mom being an awfully good sport with a less-than-stellar daughter

4.) Dove chocolates with almonds

5.) The way Dove tries to lie to you. I see through them!

Grace in Small Things: Part 326 of 365

2009-11-25T00:12:00.001-06:00

1.) Holiday specials on television

2.) Brian. Have I mentioned Brian before? Probably, but he's worth mentioning again.

3.) Being married at 41.

4.) Refunds

5.) Drives to Columbia

Grace in Small Things: Part 325 of 365

2009-11-24T00:10:00.001-06:00

1.) Well earned weeks off of work

2.) Weeks off of school too!

3.) Being proud of my brother!

4.) Because he got his GED!

5.) Pink stuff

Grace in Small Things: Part 324 of 365

2009-11-23T05:31:00.002-06:00

1.) Friends obliging when I say, "Come to the library, make me write my paper, and bring me a treat!"

2.) Chocolate milkshakes as a treat!

3.) Plasticine trees and ducks and squirrels

4.) My last research paper is done

5.) Reminiscing about Opryland

Grace in Small Things: Part 323 of 365

2009-11-22T05:26:00.003-06:00

1.) Getting a week's vacation from work, apparently

2.) Decker's Sunday afternoon Yeungling's

3.) My sister's Save the Date!

4.) Imagining wedding dresses

5.) Imagining graduation gowns. sigh

Grace in Small Things: Part 322 of 365

2009-11-21T05:15:00.002-06:00

1.) Standing up for myself

2.) Finishing my research paper

3.) Getting 1/3 of the papers due in the next two weeks done!

4.) Comment cards

5.) Hanging out with a post jail Ashley!

Grace in Small Things: Part 321 of 365

2009-11-20T05:13:00.002-06:00

1.) My new scarf from mom!

2.) Leftover ribs from Famous Dave's

3.) Making fun of everyone at mom's movie

4.) Cuddling up like a little girl next to mom in the theater

5.) Being recognized by the ticket taker because I've left the theater so many times

Grace in Small Things: Part 320 of 365

2009-11-19T17:22:00.002-06:00

1.) Texts from mom saying she has a present for me!

2.) Comprehending jokes in Spanish

3.) Double features

4.) Making fun of everyone else at a movie

5.) Spending time with mum doing something that she wants to do

Grace in Small Things: Part 319 of 365

2009-11-18T17:21:00.002-06:00

1.) Getting the mullet cut off

2.) Pancakes at 7 AM!

3.) Spending the morning with the mum

4.) Sleeping at the hair salon

5.) Cutting a mango the "proper" way

Grace in Small Things: Part 318 of 365

2009-11-17T17:19:00.002-06:00

1.) Hitting the exact time mark on our presentation

2.) Getting a "really good" on a paper from a professor who hates me

3.) Not having late points counted off for 13 minutes

4.) Doing better than one would expect on an open-book exam, for having never bought the book

5.) Camping out in the bookstore to study for the aforementioned exam

Grace in Small Things: Part 317 of 365

2009-11-16T17:17:00.002-06:00

1.) Red filling in at the last minute

2.) My third Regina Spektor concert!

3.) Realizing that the really lame stereotypes of "the biggest fan!" actually do apply to you

4.) Knobby knees

5.) Not hating Jennifer for having responsibilities

Grace in Small Things: Part 316 of 365

2009-11-15T22:01:00.001-06:00

1.) Rory bought me peanut M&M's today!

2.) Getting my chocolate fix at work

3.) Feeling better

4.) Awful ninja movies

5.) Two dates this week!

Grace in Small Things: Part 315 of 365

2009-11-14T00:42:00.002-06:00

1.) Picking up my rental car

2.) It has an auxiliary input!

3.) I don't have to beg for rides for the next two weeks.

4.) Or be homeless

5.) Or smell like anything but my homey home

Grace in Small Things: Part 314 of 365

2009-11-13T00:38:00.002-06:00

1.) Going home!

2.) Being so happy to see Cosmo and Ellie because I've missed them so much!

3.) Going to work after a crazy week!

4.) Getting email confirmations from car rentals

5.) My mom renting me a car!

Grace in Small Things: Part 313 of 365

2009-11-12T00:28:00.002-06:00

1.) Postponed presentations

2.) Doing homework for class

3.) Not having to have that homework

4.) Walking home from school

5.) Hanging out with multiple friends. That's quite a rarity.

Grace in Small Things: Part 312 of 365

2009-11-11T00:25:00.002-06:00

1.) New episodes of Glee!

2.) The "Defying Gravity" duet in Glee!

3.) Catching up on the gossip of my not-so-favorite professors

4.) Golden Girls reruns, for TWO hours a day!

5.) Having cable for a week

Grace in Small Things: Part 311 of 365

2009-11-10T00:21:00.003-06:00

1.) 6 month anniversaries!

2.) Sleeping through presentations

3.) A cat that tries to cuddle as good as my cats

4.) Walking to school

5.) Brian giving me a ride back because my feet are cold

Grace in Small Things: Part 310 of 365

2009-11-09T00:18:00.002-06:00

1.) Camping out at Rometrius's

2.) Grocery shopping efficiently

3.) Rometrius's cats can walk again!

4.) Trying to hack the wireless internet that Erin set up

5.) Using Rometrius's computer when the aforementioned attempts were foiled.

Grace in Small Things: Part 309 of 365

2009-11-08T00:01:00.002-06:00

1.) Linda, the obese

2.) Mum making me proud!

3.) When Linda turned into a man

4.) When Linda's doctor turned into a woman

5.) When Linda turned black

Grace in Small Things: Part 308 of 365

2009-11-07T23:36:00.002-06:00

1.) Rides from Rachel

2.) Having an excuse not to leave the house

3.) Convening in the party room after work

4.) "Wonderful" - Wicked

5.) Proofing powerpoints for Mum

Grace in Small Things: Part 307 of 365

2009-11-06T23:34:00.002-06:00

1.) Rides from Liz

2.) Being relatively pain-free, considering the previous day

3.) Kids' baked cheese sandwiches

4.) Turning a paper in ALMOST on time

5.) Rides from Andrew

Grace in Small Things: Part 306 of 365

2009-11-05T23:32:00.002-06:00

1.) Emmie, before she was wrecked

2.) Realizing you do have enough money to pay rent!

3.) Craig rescuing me from the side of the road

4.) The very nice firemen who came to my accident

5.) That I didn't have to face the guy I hit

Grace in Small Things: Part 305 of 365

2009-11-04T22:14:00.002-06:00

1.) Green speakers in class

2.) Persuading people not to sign a stupid petition that they don't understand

3.) Going to the New York City of college campuses

4.) Groups with a sense of humor

5.) Being mood free for a week :)

Grace in Small Things: Part 304 of 365

2009-11-03T00:52:00.003-06:00

1.) Uplifting chats encouraging me to be the best that I can be from a truly amazing woman

2.) Helping people achieve their dreams

3.) Seeking my own happiness

4.) Encouraging chats with another professor

5.) Free Wi Fi at Nelson Mazda

Grace in Small Things: Part 303 of 365

2009-11-02T00:50:00.001-06:00

1.) Training Christapha

2.) Chicken Parm

3.) Having leftovers for tomorrow

4.) Not worrying if I've posted a grace previously in the year. If it's good enough that I thought it twice, it's good enough to post twice.

5.) Letting my OCD slip a little. Liberating

Grace in Small Things: Part 302 of 365

2009-11-01T00:44:00.002-05:00

1.) How well Ashley looked

2.) She'll be getting out of jail in two weeks!

3.) The really pretty, brightly colored leaves of this Autumn season

4.) Being first cut at work

5.) A case of the sneezes

Grace in Small Things: Part 301 of 365

2009-10-31T00:43:00.003-05:00

1.) Visiting Ashley in jail

2.) Learning to make a roast with mum

3.) 3 piece Whopper packs

4.) My unique nieces' and nephew's choice of costumes

5.) Halloween!

Grace in Small Things: Part 300 of 365

2009-10-30T00:41:00.001-05:00

1.) Plumbing problems at work

2.) Thus closing early

3.) And getting out of work in time to go see a movie

4.) And getting the pants scared out of me by Paranormal Activity

5.) And having Brian sit with me afterwards so that I don't freak out

Grace in Small Things: Part 299 of 365

2009-10-29T00:40:00.002-05:00

1.) Tank Girl

2.) Rometrius said I looked skinny

3.) Cajun Cashew chicken roll up from Roly Poly

4.) The scary growl from really angry kitties

5.) Knowingly mixing up the events of the days for the sake of catching up with my graces

Grace in Small Things: Part 298 of 365

2009-10-28T00:38:00.001-05:00

1.) Trying to give Rometrius' kitties medication

2.) Tootsie Rolls

3.) Halloween plans with mum!

4.) Learning to cook

5.) Cake supply shopping

Grace in Small Things: Part 297 of 365

2009-10-27T00:36:00.002-05:00

1.) Getting perfect scores on Sexual Harassment Training courses

2.) Brainwashing lectures -- They're SO much fun!

3.) Unknowingly cancelled classes

4.) Being stuck on campus to hang out with Brian

5.) Rescuing Rometrius' kitties from the vet

Grace in Small Things: Part 296 of 365

2009-10-26T00:35:00.001-05:00

1.) Glenn teaching me how to use the Blackberry

2.) Ubertwitter

3.) Skype app

4.) Training "professionally"

5.) Encouraging talks with one professor

Grace in Small Things: Part 295 of 365

2009-10-25T00:33:00.001-05:00

1.) The color teal

2.) Free panty coupons

3.) Still not having to pay electricity

4.) Semicolons

5.) Blackberry!

Grace in Small Things: Part 294 of 365

2009-10-24T01:59:00.001-05:00

1.) Knowing that the worst day is over

2.) Assessing the damage

3.) "Maccas" -- A new trend in the US

4.) Double cheeseburgers

5.) Remember this lady's confusing address from a previous delivery.

Grace in Small Things: Part 293 of 365

2009-10-23T01:57:00.002-05:00

1.) The worst day on earth -- They make you appreciate the not so bad ones

2.) Being able to drive deliveries and have minimal contact with people on the aforementioned day

3.) Climbing the hill to recovery

4.) Sweet conversations with mum

5.) Cats who cuddle when I need it the most

Just give me the paper, already.

2009-10-22T21:58:00.008-05:00

Dear College,

We need to talk. I know we've been together for a while now, and it started off great! You were fun and easy, and there were no complications. At times, I really did think we would be together forever, but those times are over. This entire relationship, we've been nothing more than friends with benefits, the benefit being that you lie to the world for me by telling it that I am "educated." Truth be told, college, I think I've lost more brain cells with you than I ever would have if I'd never met you. I'm not blaming that all on you and your academia; although, trust me, a fair amount was due to your "academia."

Your mind numbing degree and your waste of time assignments are, quite possibly, the downfall of our entire relationship. Don't get me wrong; I like making A's and being on the Dean's list, but it is because any joker off the street could ace this program that I fail to see the reward in it. Everyone wins with you, but I want to be the one! The deepest value that you have instilled in me, college, is an apathy that I always feared. You have given me that apathy, and I simply cannot care about you anymore.

So, it's over. I'm sorry. I know it will be hard to part ways, and, just for your sake, I'll give you six more weeks of my life, but after that, I never want to hear from you again. In the mean time, I'll use this apathy to write your pathetic papers at the level that your professors accept them, and I won't spend another minute more worrying about you. There will be no announcements bought for our separation; just a quiet, reverent ceremony in remembrance of our mutual friends we've made along the way.

Don't be too upset, college; there will be many, many eager young spirits that you can drive into the ground. For those eager souls who are considering Organizational Communications as a degree program, I say, "RUN AWAY!"

Thanks for the diploma,

Katie Kelly

Grace in Small Things: Part 292 of 365

2009-10-22T01:54:00.002-05:00

1.) Al Franken

2.) Finding a focus for my research paper

3.) Having the last research paper ever

4.) Being aloof

5.) Progress in the recovery from the surgery

Grace in Small Things: Part 291 of 365

2009-10-21T01:53:00.003-05:00

1.) Happy quarter of a century birthday, Brother Craig!

2.) Buying my grocery essentials

3.) 1 dollar canned fruit!

4.) Pineapple juice

5.) A safe brother after two vehicle accidents

Grace in Small Things: Part 290 of 365

2009-10-20T01:51:00.001-05:00

1.) Going home from the hospital

2.) Sleeping in one's own bed

3.) The ability to email assignments

4.) Having a better sleeping schedule than Brian

5.) The burrito from Swanky's

Grace in Small Things: Part 289 of 365

2009-10-19T01:49:00.001-05:00

1.) Walking after surgery

2.) The way Aussies call Jello "Jelly"

3.) Nurses being servants

4.) Morphine buttons

5.) Turning work in early

Grace in Small Things: Part 288 of 365

2009-10-18T20:18:00.001-05:00

1.) Waking up from surgery!

2.) End of waiting games

3.) This brown sweater than Tom bought me last year

4.) Being pain free

5.) Morphine

Grace in Small Things: Part 287 of 365

2009-10-17T18:38:00.002-05:00

1.) Lemonheads

2.) Where the Wild Things Are

3.) Cake shopping for mum

4.) Getting off work in time to go to the movies

5.) Having cat food for my little kitties. poor things

Grace in Small Things: Part 286 of 365

2009-10-16T18:37:00.001-05:00

1.) Bumping up Mum's movie date

2.) Making it up that gravel driveway that I thought I might never make up

3.) Fall Break

4.) Being complimented

5.) Trying to figure out what my cats are thinking when they just lie there and stare at me

Grace in Small Things: Part 285 of 365

2009-10-15T18:35:00.002-05:00

1.) Papa Johns pizza two nights in a row

2.) Free Michael Jackson movie tickets

3.) A really loud phone that I don't even have to hold up to my ear

4.) Deciding to go along with the Pie theme for Halloween

5.) Dressing up for Halloween!

Grace in Small Things: Part 284 of 365

2009-10-14T18:32:00.002-05:00

1.) The worst group project being finished

2.) Planning movie dates with mum

3.) Racing a Papa Johns delivery driver with completing a paper

4.) Special garlic sauce

5.) Waiting on DJ and meeting his wife

Grace in Small Things: Part 283 of 365

2009-10-13T18:30:00.001-05:00

1.) Mt. Dew Code Red

2.) Checking out of class mentally

3.) Finishing all required papers before Fall Break

4.) Sleep overs at Rometrius'

5.) Guest speakers that bring free things

Grace in Small Things: Part 282 of 365

2009-10-12T18:29:00.001-05:00

1.) Mazda's new car brakes

2.) Twitpics

3.) The letter I received from the happy little Pie patron

4.) Dove chocolate bars

5.) Rockstar energy drink

Grace in Small Things: Part 281 of 365

2009-10-11T18:28:00.001-05:00

1.) Driving around downtown Nashville for 3 hours without finding the intended destination

2.) "Thinking of you"s

3.) Driving deliveries in cold weather

4.) Blaring Katie Herzig on said deliveries

5.) Wearing a sweatshirt to work

Grace in Small Things: Part 280 of 365

2009-10-10T18:26:00.001-05:00

1.) Sprite vs. Coke

2.) All my green shirts

3.) Making a hostile home for my kitties

4.) Ellie repaying me by peeing in the floor while I'm cleaning her catbox

5.) Cosmo vomiting in the floor less than 15 minutes later

Grace in Small Things: Part 279 of 365

2009-10-09T18:25:00.001-05:00

1.) Having something to wake up to

2.) Being about 10 assignments from graduation

3.) Making A's with a professor who doesn't like me

4.) Returned packages to rightful owners

5.) Sincere apologies

Grace in Small Things: Part 278 of 365

2009-10-08T13:03:00.002-05:00

1.) My honor being defended

2.) Sitting outside on lovely breezy days

3.) Wearing a sweater on said days

4.) Having a visitor's parking pass so that I don't have to watch my car in the parking lot

5.) My hair after I've woken up

Grace in Small Things: Part 277 of 365

2009-10-07T13:02:00.001-05:00

1.) My hair after I wake up

2.) Saving money to deposit in the bank so that you deposit an immense amount

3.) Being an English chap

4.) Really, really green, plush grass

5.) Also, astroturf

Grace in Small Things: Part 276 of 365

2009-10-06T12:58:00.002-05:00

1.) Racing the battery life on my computer

2.) Seeing where the music people are now

3.) Most of those music people being miserable. sorry, schadenfreude

4.) Teaching American accents

5.) Really lame, sarcastic introductions that sound enthusiastic and are looked upon highly

Grace in Small Things: Part 275 of 365

2009-10-05T12:43:00.003-05:00

1.) Skype calls in computer labs

2.) Turtle Brownie Morale Boosters

3.) Watching the game and caring

4.) Taye!

5.) Cheeseburgers! Really tasty ones with lettuce and tomato!

Grace in Small Things: Part 274 of 365

2009-10-04T12:39:00.002-05:00

1.) This video (language)

2.) Bicycle racks

3.) Hospitality discounts

4.) Creepy old men, out and proud pedophiles

5.) Remember aforementioned pedophiles' names for Google later

Grace in Small Things: Part 273 of 365

2009-10-03T01:16:00.000-05:00

1.) Helpful advice

2.) Mary Lou-hoo is staying!

3.) Feeling great after a good cry

4.) Tutorials on hand washing

5.) Packages arriving in the mail, despite them not being for me

Grace in Small Things: Part 272 of 365

2009-10-02T01:14:00.000-05:00

1.) Hit and run conversations with Steven

2.) Chasing Ellie around the bathroom

3.) Thinking that I work at 11 AM, but in fact working at 5 PM

4.) I bought our tickets to Regina Spektor!

5.) Wearing dressing and walking over air vents in downtown Nashville

Grace in Small Things: Part 270 of 365

2009-09-30T23:05:00.001-05:00

1.) Echoes used in songs

2.) Kate Miller-Heidke

3.) Being a critic

4.) Taste testing

5.) "Which way did Glenn go?!" - My new favorite game

Grace in Small Things: Part 269 of 365

2009-09-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

1.) Cancelled classes on days that I would've missed anyway

2.) Getting shifts covered for the volunteer work I signed up for and forgot to ask off for

3.) Fake dead grandmas

4.) Leftover birthday cake

5.) Offers without having to ask