cpufem

you know those coinstar machines they have at the grocery store? you dump in your spare change into a machine that sorts/counts the money. if you want a cash voucher that you can use at the grocery store, the machine skims off some percentage from the total and then prints out a receipt. you can also opt to get a voucher towards a store (jc penney, itunes, starbucks) at no cost to you.

i went to a coinstar last summer and opted for the amazon.com option. back then when i was still in a bookclub, i would order from amazon whenever i couldn't find a book at the library. i put the amazon voucher in my purse and forgot about it.

i switched purses the other day and discovered my voucher! and it was still good! so thrilling.

today i bought a pair of peridot stud earrings. all i had to pay was shipping and handling. just had to share. so go dig under your couch eh! :) 

in an effort to save money and stay in (it's cold !!!) i'm going to pitch the idea of popcorn and movie night tonight.

oh, and we're watching a movie off the cable tv. our netflix doesn't come in until tomorrow and they shut down our local blockbuster. which one would you watch if you had to choose between:

a) Fighting For My Daughter: Lindsay Wagner is a single mother desperately searching for her runaway child, a rebellious teen who's fallen in with pimps and streetwalkers.

b) Can't Buy Me Love: A geek (Patrick Dempsey) courts popularity by hiring a cheerleader (Amanda Peterson) to pose as his girl.

ugh, i was just thinking about how awesome LJ is and how i love reading my community postings. i belong to some pretty darn interesting LJ communities that i really look forward to reading.

but now this:
http://valleywag.gawker.com/5124184/the-russian-bear-slashes-a-social-network

it concerns me. facebook and myspace strike me as superficial networking sites and right now i don't want to be a part of either one.

the back to school commercials are unavoidable. and i'm affected by them the same way i always have been... 

i just read this yahoo article on the pressure for girls to have the right clothes. the article claims the pressure is on even stronger than it was 10 years ago for girls to fit in. now i doubt they have any reliable statistics on exactly how they measure girls "feeling" more pressure about their clothes. i think middle school/high school has always been and will always be an experience riddled with social pressure. 

my memories of "the right clothes" go back to the 3rd grade. a friend of mine came over after school and decided to tell me that my wardrobe needed an overhaul. she started fishing through my dresser and putting together outfits for me, throwing out tips like "roll up the sleeves on that sweatshirt, you'll look cool"   and "stop letting your mom get you stuff at kmart". 

the 6th grade was when everyone seemed to go brand crazy. the popular girls had the girbaud jeans. remember the big fat rectangular label with the name "maurice francois girbaud". actually i think the first name isn't maurice. it's maurithe or something equally french sounding. the label was itself a belt loop which was kind of cool. people would say the jeans cost $60. then i would think back at how i never saw the register ring up to $60 when my mom was shopping at kmart.. 

anyway, we can try to put distance from these grade school experiences and ourselves now but there isn't any. you know this social pressure never goes away. now it's designer label bags (gotta have that "C") and designer label shoes. so here's my conclusion. the social pecking order is still there. it's not just an isolated prepubescent incident. it's just the start.

so what are you wearing?

i'm up at my usual hour.. can't help it.. waking up at 6:30 is second nature to me now. 

but get this-- i... have... the... day.. TO MYSELF!

when this happens i find it almost problematic. so much time! what do i do? 

immediately my mind starts thinking of tasks. should i sweep the kitchen? probably. make the pumpkin pie for tomorrow? probably. just take it easy? probably-- but how?