scorpius42's Xanga

Launch of new site

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:04:49 GMT

After much hard work (mostly on Ryan's part), my new website is finally up and running, and I will be blogging over at http://brendajdriver.com/ from here on out. Come visit and leave me comments

Friday, December 12, 2008

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:56:37 GMT

Fast forward through the month-plus since I last stuck my nose into the vast and limitless universe of Xanga. I’ve been pretty busy with, you know, work stuff while I’m at work (gasp!) and personal stuff when I’m not working.

Wedding planning is coming along nicely; we have the following:

My dress
My shoes, which I got on sale
My veil, which I got with a coupon
A possibility for a tiara, which belongs to Ryan’s sister
Jewelry, which was free with the dress, that I am waffling on whether or not I want to wear
A color scheme
A nearly complete guest list
An officiant (the estimable and indomitable Brian M. Jacobson)
Most of the wedding party lined up
All three bridesmaids’ dresses, which I got a fantastic deal on
A down payment made on the church where we’ll be having the ceremony and festivities to follow
A down payment made on photography and videography services, which we got a fantastic deal on
An idea of what sorts of catering we’ll want
An idea of what sorts of sugary goodness we’ll want (we’re planning on cupcakes rather than traditional cake)
An idea of how we’ll decorate the reception area
A headache, when I think about flowers
No idea how to wear my hair
A stack of bridal magazines a mile high, a planner, a binder, online to-do lists, and various bits of paper stuffed into various nooks and crannies of my desk

And we’ve picked out but haven’t paid for:

Ryan’s wedding ring (<girlyBrenda>*squeal!* We’re getting MARRIED!</girlyBrenda>)
Invitations, unless Ryan decides to design them himself

In the midst of all this lovely wedding stuff, I looked up and discovered that it’s now December, with its requisite Christmas shopping and selfish consumerism. So I’ve been buying gifts and deciding what gifts I would like to receive, and lately I find I’m feeling materialistic, vain, and wearied. So, I think I will spend some of my week-and-a-half long holiday from work decluttering my closet so I can donate stuff I'm not using and don't really need anymore to charity. I’m enjoying the Christmas season, but I’m not enjoying the “give us lots of your money for this MUST-HAVE THINGY for your people or they won’t love you anymore” mentality that retailers want us to have. Luckily, I’m a good shopper, and while Christmas will be small this year, it will also be infused with much love.

Vote!

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:10:00 GMT

I voted this morning; at my polling place there was a line but it wasn't huge, so I was in and out in twenty minutes. Yay for not living in a major metropolis anymore I even had time before I had to be at work to take advantage of Starbucks' offer of free tall coffee if you have your "I voted!" sticker, and I bought a delectable pumpkin scone to go with it. Chick-Fil-A is giving out free chicken sandwiches to voters as well. Too bad I don't eat chicken anymore.

There was an article in the News-Leader yesterday about a mock election at one of the elementary schools in which McCain narrowly won. Jessica said her class did the same thing, and only one child didn't pick Obama. Iiiiiiiinteresting, no?

Anyway, go out and vote!

Stuff. Lots of stuff.

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:04:38 GMT

I've been really tired lately (haven't been sleeping well) so I'm having a little trouble holding onto and focusing coherent thoughts. So, I think I'll just start writing and see what happens.

Big issue: Politics. I think Obama will win the election, and it's not necessarily because I support him (though I do). It's simply historical precedent. Fact: The economy has tanked. Fact: The current President is a Republican, and the country always, always ousts the incumbent party in elections in this kind of climate. That's my thirty-second political science lesson for the day. You're welcome

On a personal side, I think Obama is a likable, well-spoken person who is able to communicate in a clear-headed, sensible manner and in my opinion, those are going to be some of the most important qualities in the President given the way things are in the world.

Current passion: Photography. Or, to be more precise, digital imaging. Ryan and I have hired our wedding photographer/videographer (yay!), and as part of the package we get $300 towards purchasing one or more albums. The albums are great, but at a minimum of around $300 each, we aren't going to be able to purchase copies for ourselves and for our parents, so I have been playing around with several sites that offer photobook services and putting together sample photobooks with the intent of purchasing one to a) evaluate as a possible wedding album service and b) give to Jessica for Christmas (needless to say, the books I'm putting together are full of pictures of her and me).

And, I've been gobbling up a number of Photoshop tutorials and downloading free actions, and playing around with modifying my own photographs after the fact. I have taken a black and white photography course, so I know how to process film, and I also know I prefer digital to traditional photography; the results are (much) quicker and don't damage my hands the way developer chemicals do. I've been having a grand time playing around with color and with researching photo developing techniques like cross-processing and lomo and duplicating them in Photoshop.

Some fun results:
becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

becomes:

and last but not least,

becomes:

I've been having a lot of fun with this. Thanks for letting me share with you

I was going to blather on about other stuff but I can save it for future posts. I'm pretty worn out, and I still have a college class to sub for and a ten-year-old to go bowling with tonight. Wheee!

Sometimes I Really Love My Job

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:37:25 GMT

I'm working on documentation for people who use one of my training rooms, because the presenter equipment is a source of constant befuddlement to those who don't use it often (and occasionally to those who do). So I treated the room to a bit of a photo shoot, and am working up a pretty snazzy little illustrated booklet for the users.

In the course of putting said snazzy booklet together, I've realized that I can't explain why, but I absolutely love this image:

... dust and all.

Yay MacBook. Yay macro photography.

small request

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:33:45 GMT

Wish me luck, everyone. I'm getting three fillings done in about half an hour.

I hate going to the dentist.

hi

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 18:22:52 GMT

I was in a pretty sad mood (thanks, PMS!) and a long walk in the glorious sunshine didn't help, so I wrote out a whole rambling post on a number of depressing topics (the number being one, and the depressing topic being the economy). Then I deleted it, because I got to thinking about the wedding, and the sheer awesomeness of getting to have a wedding and then a life with Ryan, and I cheered up a bit. And you know what? It may seem like a lot, but there are only

381 days left

until we tie the knot.

Also, I like pansies:

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:27:40 GMT

So it has been brought to my attention that Ryan's former girlfriend has been badmouthing me online. I don't know exactly what was said, but I can gather the gist of it. Whatever she said, it reflects poorly not on me, but on her; she never got to know me as a person; she hated me from day one simply because I was Ryan's friend and therefore a threat to her tenuous hold on an increasingly unpleasant relationship. I can only speculate on the reasons for her continued venom; we both have what we really wanted (she, a wedding ring and a baby on the way; me, a loving relationship with the man of my dreams and a life to look forward to together), and that's all that really matters. I just want to publicly say that I wish her and her husband great happiness and a healthy baby.

That being said, Ryan and I are amused by this, and are mildly, morbidly curious as to what she did actually post, so if anyone cares to message one or both of us with all or part of what she said, feel free

<edit>

After having read her comments, which were pretty much what I would've expected from her, I still wish her all the best, and hope someday she will have the maturity to genuinely wish us the same.

</edit>

happy news!

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:40:33 GMT

Ryan and I got engaged this weekend!

Thus far, our planning consists mainly of this:
Ryan: we should have dancing pandas
Ryan: at the wedding...or reception
Brenda: during the ceremony!
Ryan: ...and the honeymoon
Brenda: it wouldn't be a honeymoon without them
Ryan: lol

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:37:28 GMT

I am:

Twittering. Because most days I’m to busy/lazy to write a blog entry.
Playing WoW with Ryan when we have some time to goof off. This is me.
Looking forward to dinner tonight and a road trip tomorrow.
Feeling plain today. I want to do something different with my hair but I don’t know what. Haircut? Color? Suggestions?