Just a few things

Okay, so to start off, I've replaced my blog profile picture and brought back the one with the beer. I admit it, I made a change, and it just didn't go over. The thing with the blog pic is that it's important to me that it's not a terribly recognizable shot. Granted, I've given WAY too many friends this URL so a lot of people know the peacegrrl behind the blog, but I don't want random folks--say, some moron I went to high school with, or a resident--to stumble upon this site and use the information about failed affairs, my personal vulnerabilities, etc. (that I so carelessly thrust out into the public domain) to ruin me. The beer pic is a favorite of mine, but unfortunately I made an error in judgement and put it up on my facebook page (facebook is this interesting quasi-blog thing all the college kids are doing, and I got shamefully sucked into it) without giving it a second thought. Unfortunately, those above me thought that a person in my professional position might be sending off the wrong message by publicizing a picture of myself gleefully indulging in a mug of Dundee's Honey Brown (my fave, by the way). And then I got to thinking, wow, maybe the beer picture is making me look like some sad party girl alcoholic. Therefore, fearful that the combination of the beer pic and some of the stupid shit I ramble about would send an unmistakable "lush" vibe, I decided to replace it with what will hereafter be referred to as the napkin shot. Taken in context, it's a pretty funny picture (not knowing that j-dog was taking a picture, I was asking a friend if I had anything in my teeth), and it meets the "fairly unrecognizable" prerequisite. But taken out of context, I just look like a moron hiding behind a napkin. Nobody likes the napkin shot. Two people have described it as "kinda wierd,"and today I returned to my computer and checked my IM messages recieved while away, only to find an note from The Guy that said very simply, "I really hate your new blogspot photo." Well, that did it. Is the napkin shot really the image I want imbedded in the minds of my reading public? And what if The Guy completely forgets what I look like, and all he has for reference is a tiny mug of me making a strange expression next to a napkin? I'm vain, and the bottom line is that I look good in the beer pic, so it's back up, and there it will stay.

On to the next thing. I'm reading a new book, and it's the wittiest, painfully dead-on reflection of gen-X pop culture that I've ever read. The book is Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto , by Chuck Klosterman. I definitely don't agree with everything in it (especially Klosterman's views on country music, John Cusack, and Coldplay), but most of the time the author is almost disturbingly (and definitely embarassingly) dead on. Most regular readers of this blog know that I am in the midst of the search for my soul mate; I'm convinced that a guy who reads this book and finds it half as amusing and observant as I do is probably a contender for the title. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I still, still don't have cable, and I'm running out of creative things to do. The fourth season of Six Feet Under isn't on DVD yet. I'm so bored that I've started looking forward to working out and taking two-mile walks around campus. I have the NPR afternoon schedules of both the local and San Antonio affiliates memorized, and I caught myself humming along to the damn theme music of "All Things Considered" yesterday. This is not normal! Give me back my Law and Order and Talk Sex and my A Different World reruns! Maybe this is God's way of ensuring that I come out of this summer with a great tan, a smaller ass, and a more informed worldview. I just need to see the higher purpose.

There are other irritations, like the fact that it looks like The Boy and I aren't going to be able to orchestrate getting together anytime before September. Are the fates working against us? I'm trying not to dwell. Really, when I think about my short little life, this is one of the better summers. I've survived joblessness, an evil boss from hell, parental splitups, and pitiful boyfriend-dating-friend sagas in Junes and Julys past. Lack of cable and a fledgling quasi-relationship? This isn't so bad. I will persevere.