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Come see my new blog!

2010-04-17T17:41:00.003-04:00

I have changed blogs...visit me at:

www.jordish.blogspot.com

See you there!

actual update? nope...

2009-06-05T23:35:00.002-04:00

I've been living in Houston for about 5 months now, and have posted about twice. There are good reasons, which you would know if I was about to post all about them...but I'm not going to. Yet, anyway. I am breaking my blogging silence to share something with all of you (you know, all 4 of you that read this blog).

I love KFC because they serve mashed potatoes. Startling revelation, I know. I was in a fantastic part of town (yeah, sarcasm comes in the form of italics) and was waiting in line when the person in front of me ordered dog meat. Yike. I wasn't aware KFC served man's best friend. I had ordered my mashed potatoes when the person behind the counter said to the person behind me in line: "dog meat or light meat?" that I realized what was going on.

anyway, life apparently is busy enough to distract me and make me think KFC is now KFD (get it? Kentucky Fried Dogs. I crack myself up). But I'll try to, I don't know, write something remotely interesting/important/informative next time.

Oh, and I don't advocate the eating of pets...even if I don't like dogs.

NERAK

2009-01-31T14:54:00.005-05:00

It was an interesting thing. Scott, Shaliece, the visiting Bawdens, and I watched The Watcher in the Woods. The first time I watched this movie, it was my fourth or fifth grade field day at Oak Hills Elementary. I remember sitting in the huge, dark multi-purpose room and being so flaming scared. When Sheesh lived at our house, we talked about this movie a lot, but never ended up watching it. I eventually found it on DVD and had it in my collection, and so out it came.

The thing I remember most from when I was a kid was the name of the new pet dog, Nerak, which is Karen spelled backwards. I've mocked it often. Several new fun things I've learned to appreciate from this movie are the creepy housekeeper, the fantastic special effects (sarcasm is hard to indicate when typing, but it's there), and the hairdos. Man.

I also enjoyed picking up some new quotes, including my favorite: "Lightning struck the belfry...suddenly the church was aflame!"

Before we started, Shaliece was worried about post Watcher in the Woods nightmares. As most things from childhood turn out, our experience this time was very different from those scary elementary school field day experiences. What used to be scary was funny, what was dramatic was cheesy. Time really does change things.

i wasn't kidding...

2009-01-24T00:57:00.001-05:00

no shame at all!

how could i forget?

2009-01-17T19:18:00.002-05:00

dad reminded me of a very important part of our trip that i forgot to include in the previous post...
Dreamland Barbecue in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. this really had to be experienced, in order to understand. but the story of the adventure is thus:

we were in the south and we wanted barbecue. the real stuff. so i looked up "best bbq tuscaloosa" on my phone and was informed i must go to Dreamland. after several errors (because it was in the freakin' boonies!) we found ourselves on the right road to this little restaurant, which is in the middle of a flaming trailer park and has been around for over 50 years. it's hard to tell from this picture, but the place is the epitome of "hole in the wall". i think dad was concerned for the safety of my things :) but stepping out of the car we were hit with a most amazing barbecue smell. they only serve ribs (except, we were informed, they "just started serving coleslaw and potato salad"). so we got our ribs and dove right in. which, knowing anything about me and meat, is pretty impressive. they were excellent and the atmosphere was fantastic.

a sort of initiation, if you will, into the southern way of things.

on the road again...

2009-01-17T14:27:00.004-05:00

i broke out my camera once on our 2 day drive to Houston. it could be because i'm lazy. it could be because i did my best to sleep away the miles. it could be because much of the journey looked like the picture on the right.

dad and i left very very early. luckily, my sweet sister lauren, dad, and i had packed it (to the freakin' brim!) the day before, so mostly we had to just get in and drive.

sadly, all the effort i went through to get an eAudiobook from NetLibrary failed. so dad and i spent two days finding alternative ways of entertaining ourselves. for dad that was mostly "meditating", for me that was mostly trying to sleep. i did have a fantastic Discover magazine that had the 100 top science stories of the year. luckily, we had my new iPhone, because i had to look up a bunch of words i didn't know. good to know there are still things to learn.

we drove through the French Quarter of New Orleans. it was a really nasty day, and i didn't really want to get out of the car, but dad performed an excellent feat of auto-tourism and i got to see what it was like, and occasionally rolling the windows down, i even got to hear some live jazz. too bad it wasn't marc broussard. but i would have gotten out of the car for him.

eventually...and i mean eventually...we crossed over the border of my new home state. this was when i broke out the camera. and i took these two good shots from my car going over 65 mph.

impressive, no? and i'm definitely feeling welcomed.

then i messed around with the camera for a few minutes, attempting to capture our little trip for posterity. or whatever. i won't post the first picture of dad, because he looks like he is driving while high on something. but this one is nice:

and here's me. this isn't the first one i took of me either (or the second, or the third...) but i had time to kill.
eventually we made it to the Moser's in Humble, Texas. I have since learned that this is pronounced "UUMMble", not "HUMble". ah, Texas. how i'm learning to love thee. so now i'm here, and i'm loving catching up with Sheesh and Scott, playing with Riley and Garrett, and learning to get around. i'll post again soon about school, etc!

wrinkled poem on wrinkled paper...found!

2008-12-29T22:00:00.003-05:00

I'm moving to Texas in a few days (aahhkk!) and so I'm dutifully going through my things as I pack them to either come with me or stay stored here in Maryland. I was going through a box of journals, skimming pages and laughing at myself when a piece of paper fell out. It was a poem I had written when I was maybe 16 or 17. It is no masterpiece, but I was sure proud of it back then. I must have written it while at work at Instant Information Systems, because this is the only copy I seem to have...it wasn't saved anywhere. I thought it was gone forever, but here it is, in all it's glory:

Wrinkles

I have a fear.
Someday I'll walk past myself
Sitting in a corner, on a creaky wooden chair
Collecting dust
With cobwebs in my hair.
I'm old and wrinkled,
With gnarled hands and a blank stare
From sitting in the same spot
Collecting dust.

So I'll do my best to clean off the cobwebs and the dust
But I won't be able to do anything about the wrinkles
Which is okay;
Good, even.
Because wrinkles represent years of life lived.

Once I've cleaned myself off I'll say,
"There, good as new"
But I won't really be.
Because wrinkles represent years of life lived
But not necessarily years of life lived well--
Because I ended up
Sitting in a corner, on a creaky wooden chair
Collecting dust
With cobwebs in my hair.

i wasn't making this up...

2008-11-16T01:27:00.004-05:00

i made a comment in my fabulous birthday honoring post about my sister, lauren and a man holding his own skin. i just wanted to show everyone else how very amazing this plastinated body is. seriously, this man's insides are holding his outsides. there is something awesome about that. and i mean awesome as it was originally intended...as in, it evokes awe.
anyway, there are many more wonderful things to be seen and learned about the human body at www.bodyworlds.com.

happy birthday little sister!

2008-11-04T16:18:00.005-05:00

it's been pretty good to have you around!

you laugh at my stupid jokes
you always ask me "what are you doing" when you call me at work
you are almost my opposite but still love me
you are very good at sharing
you're a tease
you are great with the kiddos
you go on lunch dates with me
you'll get a skull picture holder for Christmas because i tell you to
you are patient with me, more than most
you have a strong testimony
you let me threaten you but know i love you anyway
you're hair is very soft
you believe in me
you'll rock out whenever wherever
the only times you've ever bitten me it were after gestures of love
you think a body holding its own skin is awesome
you brought many many things to the mission office for me
you're beautiful
you love me for me
you are you!!!

oh yes, we were "ready to rocksteady"...um, that's the title of a really good song

2008-10-27T14:10:00.011-04:00

i'm really quite a slacker...i'm just now posting about the Marc Broussard concert lauren, cj and went to. i never go out any more, but i've been to a few concerts in my day. some really good concerts, and some where i felt saddened by the amount of money i'd spent to stand for several hours next to large sweaty men, have beer poured on my shoes and my ears blasted with what can only very loosely be defined as music. this was a good concert.

the concert was at the Ram's Head Live, so we left work early to drive to annapolis, rocking out to marc the whole way. had to get in the mood. when we found the street the venue was on, we saw the freakin' tour bus! i'm not gonna lie, there was a some girlishness going on in the car. but come on. we had dinner first..which involved several forms of potato...in a special room just for concert goers. we could hear the sound check, more girlishness (less from me and more from...other people). and yes, we took pictures (not normal pictures, just pictures):

then we got to take a special "VIP" path to our slightly less than VIP seats, which were still good, because there were still only maybe 220 other people in the venue. we sang, danced and screamed like little girls for our favorite artist. here is a video of marc singing one of my favorite songs, "Hope for me Yet" (this isn't from the concert we went to, his shirt wasn't nearly so shiny at ours!) he really is a fantastic musician, please listen!

not only are marc and his band superb musicians, they are also incredibly humble and really good to their fans. they stick around after the show and sign cds (they record each live show, so we bought cds of the actual concert we went to) and, if you are cj, t-shirts. they also took pictures!

Lauren and I with Calvin, the bass player:

Calvin, me, cj, Marc himself, lauren:
Lauren, CJ, the drummer, and me:

If you ever get a chance to go see them live, DO IT! we are...again! (november 8th, baby!) at least get some of his music, i promise you'll be impressed.

That's Buffalax, with a capital B

2008-08-23T10:50:00.006-04:00

according to the Urban Dictionary, Buffalax is "the art of taking an Indian (or any other non-english) music video and giving it subtitles for what it sounds like in English." not to be confused with buffalax: "an extremely fat woman with a bad attitude". an important distinction.

now, i certainly don't want anyone to think that I don't love the fantastic people of India. if you think a Buffalaxed video is offensive, i am very sorry and please know that is not my intention. point is, you should stop reading now. this is your only warning. because that's what the rest of this post is about.

so, when I was in Spain, chris showed me what is perhaps the most famous Buffalax video: benny lava. i found it highly entertaining and i laughed. a lot. for your enjoyment (and please note, these are music videos so they are several minutes long, but if you read the subtitles throughout them, totally worth your time! plus...the dancing!):

well, sometimes i watch it to cheer myself up. and then i found this...mwhahaha. sorry, anticipatory cackle. it is the Indian answer to Michael Jackson's Thriller. really. fancy red suit and everything.

so here's where i could go into a deep philosophical discussion about how often we only hear what we want to hear. but really, it's all about those dance moves...so just "calm down and park that comfy shin guard armor!"

dorky little exercise and Elizabeth Bloomer Ford

2008-08-22T16:04:00.003-04:00

ah...the sweet smell of a fresh post after a **cough** 6 month hiatus. invigorating to the (possibly) tens of readers to this here blog, no?

i'm a dork, to be sure. and to prove it...read the following:

i've been conspicuously absent the last several months, and to help me so I only need to explain it one time...Gerald D. Fillintheblank (named after our beloved thirty eighth president, Gerald R. Ford. His wife's name, incidently...Elizabeth *Bloomer* Ford).

Gerald D. Fillintheblank: JORDAN!!! you've been conspicuously absent the last several months.
jordan: yes. i know. and i'm really sorry about that, there really was no offense intended.
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: none taken. at least, not by me. i was named after the man that pardoned Nixon! others, well, may still be a little annoyed. but we are a people that believe in forgiveness and moving on. so i'm sure this dorky little exercise of yours will help with that.
jordan: i guess that depends on if i get my act together and keep posting.
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: absolutely! precisely! exactly!
jordan: you just said three things that all mean the same thing.
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: nice. will you keep posting?
jordan: well, that kind of brings me to the whole reason i wasn't posting before.
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: and what was that?
jordan: my life is really boring.
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: it is when you are interviewed by an imaginary man named after Gerald R. Ford. as he himself once said, "this is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts."
jordan: this is my point. although comparing my lack of a life to watergate...
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: not a perfect metaphor, no. but the situation is bound to get better, right? with graduate school coming up, which means you'll be moving and meeting new people and learning new things?
jordan: and having no time for things like blogging?
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: ah...
jordan: maybe i'm just not a blogging type. but if i keep updating my fancy new youtube feature, people will like me, right?
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: will you keep the smooze video?
jordan: i will.
Gerald D. Fillintheblank: then people will like you...at least your sisters. because they like the smooze. well, three of them that i know of.

to the truth, i will try to do better about the posting. i can't guarantee how much of it will be about *me* because honestly my life is really lame. evidence: see above. but i'll try to make it interesting and worth your while to read. unlike this post. sorry about that. next post i'll actually try some kind of update.

sometimes what you think will make you happy...

2008-02-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

can i ever really...

2008-02-12T12:53:00.001-05:00

i've spent the weekend at home alone. i'm one of those people that is, for the most part, very comfortable being alone. i like people. i really do. but something i am working on is being myself, and i have a hard time doing that around other people. hehe. i go into a situation planning on not caring what other people think about me, but it is really the only thing i can think about. so i am currently avoiding other people all together.

okay, maybe that's a little dramatic. i just kind of go in cycles...sometimes i want to have something to do or somewhere to be every day, other times i want to curl up on my bed with a book and not really talk to anyone. i guess i've been thinking about this a lot lately because it is probably annoying for the people that i know. i'm probably a pretty difficult friend to have. low maintenance, which has to be a bonus. but unpredictable. and i start to wonder--can natural loners every really have friends? i mean the kind of friends that stay friends?

know your onion

2008-02-03T23:46:00.000-05:00

thanks to chris for introducing me to the shins. i really connected with this song, highly recommend it. something i'll always be astounded by is the way that a song can describe a feeling better than words alone. sometimes i'll stumble across a song that is who i am at that moment. a themesong i guess. i keep a list-kind of like a musical journal. i can listen to any of those songs and i am reminded of who i was.

"Know Your Onion!"

Shut out, pimpled and angry.
I quietly tied all my guts into knots.
Gave up on trying to make them,
I figured it'd take them too long to look up and besides...

It was undeniably clear to me i don't know why
When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters
I knew what worthless dregs we've always been.

Lucked out and found my favorite records
Lying in wait at the birmingham mall.
The songs that i heard,
The occasional book
Were the only fun i ever took.
And i got on with making myself.
The trick is just making yourself.

But when they're parking their cars on your chest
You've still got a view of the summer sky
To make it hurt twice when your restless body
Caves to its whims
And suddenly struggles to take flight...

Three thousand miles north east
I left all my friends at the morning bus stop shaking their heads.
"what kind of life you dream of? you're allergic to love."
Yes i know but i must say in my own defense
It's been undeniably dear to me, i don't know why
When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters
I knew the worthless dregs we are,
The selfless, loving saints we are,
The melting, sliding dice we've always been.

"kneel to your god babylon!"

2008-01-31T22:07:00.000-05:00

ch ch ch changes...

2008-01-31T20:24:00.001-05:00

it's been a long time, friends. but...say it for me..."absence makes the heart grow fonder." right? cliche. i'll admit that, but then i've never been one to shy away from an aptly placed cliche (see title). i've got a whole list of excuses as to why i haven't updated in so long. i could promise i'll do better from now on. i could explain why things are different now. but does it really matter? "let's forget the fact that you're a little late showing up to the party and just embrace the fact that you showed up at all" (sam seaborn).

let's also embrace that other party i've joined...the party of the gainfully employed. i've been working at avendra for a little over a month now. most of that has been with horrific overtime. horrific in the sense that it was a lot of time in a place of business. it was fantastic in the amount of money i made. yes, friends. i've joined the fiends of business. i'm a hypocrite. you'll find that may be a theme with me. dang it.

hmmm...what else is new? i've joined the singles ward. an interesting little group of individuals. i work at the temple on friday evenings. i take an asl class at the community college. i am working on a graduate certificate program in epidemiology through the university of north carolina chapel hill. you'll be hearing more about this. diseases are very interesting. how they are spread can be equally interesting. did you know in 2002 an outbreak of west nile virus was eventually traced to donated organs?

chris is in spain now. my single, maryland-based, understands my feelings about marriage and family and wanting to do something with my life and our country etc., fantastic little brother is very far away. and he's going to go to morocco. i'm a little jealous. i guess i'm feeling a little stagnant, and i'm watching him be so much of what *i* want to be. but i'm proud of him. i'm proud of his goals, his progress, who he is. i'm glad that we were able to spend some time together after i got home and before he left. i'm glad that he watched the funniest simpsons episode ever with me. and that he shared his music. and that he, after much trial and tribulation, got windows on my mac so i could take my stupid epi class. he's a good brother. okay. now i'm over that.

i have to go do some homework now. wahoo. but "i'll be back" (see, what did i tell you?).

wasted week

2007-12-09T00:34:00.000-05:00

i feel like i've done nothing all week. i've had a back thing for over a week now, and i've been laying in bed reading, watching movies, napping. all week. boring! i'm on drugs now and it is finally getting a little better. i am in definite need of a life now. before i didn't so much care, but now...i am ready for some social action! i've made a few plans for the coming week, so as long as my back keeps improving i think i'm going to have actual social interaction. yay for me!

catch up

2007-11-20T19:23:00.001-05:00

alright, it's been a couple weeks so it is time to play catch up. whoops. i don't even really have the excuse of being too busy. i'm just working mostly. i am applying to an online grad program in field epidemiology, so if everyone could pray that i get into that, i'd appreciate it. i have a fulltime job offer at avendra where i worked as a temp a couple times before my mission. yay for insurance! i will most likely start there at the beginning of december. thats what i am the most excited about. other than that there isn't much exciting going on. i am trying to decide between staying in my home ward and going to the singles ward. it wouldn't even be a hard decision if it wasn't for the fact that all of my friends out here are married now. starting over at a new ward isn't ever easy, especially a singles ward. so we'll see what happens there.

swim to a song

2007-10-30T02:01:00.000-04:00

i just ordered this snazzy waterproof mp3 player. i am very excited to start swimming again after a year and a half hiatus. with my addiction to music, i've decided that using this sweet device will help me stay motivated and enjoy working out that much more. i'm excited.

if you have any ideas about good workout songs for a playlist, i'd be more than open to any suggestions!

changes

2007-10-30T01:11:00.000-04:00

so much has changed in the last three weeks...different rules, different people, different experiences, different technology. i bought a new ipod and i can watch movies on it! i've already uploaded all my music and some movies. i'm addicted. its hard to figure out how i lasted 18 months without such a thing.

i can hangout with boys (i've even been asked out!). tonight i went to lauren's fhe group, which meant playing Disney's Scene It which involved watching movie clips and boys my age. we rented a movie from redbox, which i've never used before. very exciting.

point is, 18 months changes a lot of things. my attitude and personality and the way i deal with people have changed, and i'm trying to take those changes and apply them to my changed situation. not easy. i know there have been a lot of people that have dealt with the same things, but i'm trying to figure out how *i* do it...how *i* am supposed to adjust to living in the world post-mission. it's kind of fun i guess--it means i have the whole world open to me.

if you have any helpful suggestions...let me know!

by popular demand...

2007-10-14T23:50:00.000-04:00

i have just returned from my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. for 18 months i was isolated from the blogging realm, and on this, the day of my official release from my calling as a missionary--at the behest of family and friends--i have begun to blog.

i am as uncomfortable with my place in life as i have ever been. i am no longer a missionary, but i am not yet part of the "real world." i haven't even watched a movie yet. i could take my situation one of two ways: first, i can be terrified and paralyzed by my lack of plans, lack of friends in my same situation, and the utter chaos which is my life right now, OR second, i can use this time as a fabulous opportunity to define who i am how i want to. no one at home really knows ME anymore, only the jordan that left for utah 18 months ago. i could go back to her, or i can move forward and become the person that i want to be. when i think about it that way, it is actually a pretty exciting place to be in.

for now, i guess i take it one day at a time. right? good thing the person that i want to be is patient!!!