being a manager

in clerks II, the two gentlemen shown here are friends...one is a manager, the other is an employee. luckily, in my career, i have made a lot of friends....manager and employee alike. whether you become friends with an employee or just like them as a person, one of the hardest things for me is to watch someone get fired for making a stupid decision. usually this decision involves theft or dishonesty, which just makes it harder. i have never held a retail management position where i have not either investigated or terminated someone due to loss. it is usually someone that i like or like working with a lot. it truly is one of the worst parts of the job.

thankfully, it gets balanced out with the friendships that i've made. i got a call from my friend who told me that she is pregnant. (baby boom theory) the best part is how she told me:

Friend: "hey, do you guys sell yoga videos?
Me: "yeah, we sell the same ones we sold at Store of Knowledge, Gaiam"
Friend: "do you sell PRE-NATAL yoga videos?"

this friend also just text me a photo of a building that looked like Batman. that's how cool she is...really, one of the coolest people on earth. i also would make her work for me whenever i would get a new job....three different places, two different jobs. if she lived in the same state, she would totally be working for me.

i guess there is balance.

but the firing really, really sucks.

weekend with maj

yes, it's my second post for the day. yes, i'm off work today. don't judge.
sara's sister, stacey, a.k.a. maj, came up to visit for the weekend. although i had to work a good portion of the time, we were able to do some fun stuff. we ended up at the zoo to help fulfill my quest to see Tai Shan, but no luck. we were too late. we were able to see a plethora of other animals, but no pandas.

on another evening, we ventured off to dave and buster's, an arcade type atmosphere with a bar and bowling alley. after several rounds of skee ball, basketball and virtual tennis, sara and maj mention that they want me to win a kickball for maj out of one of those giant claw machines. (maj plays kickball on a team called "the crazy kickers" for a league in her area.) i've only one one other item from a machine like that before. and on my FIRST TRY, as shown in the photo, i won her a kickball. good times. it definitely left the evening on a good note.

it was great to hang with maj for the weekend. i hope she has some fun stuff in mind for next summer.

the beatles

i'm currently obsessed with the beatles at the moment. i just read a biography about them and have another on hold at work. i also bought a book of photography. i've always been a fan, but the biography truly intrigued me. sara and i actually share in our interest in the beatles. they also were heavily influenced by dylan in the midst of their career, so that helps too. however, the trailer of the movie above, "across the universe" has intrigued sara since the moment she saw it. it looks like everything that she loves rolled up into one...the sixties, the beatles, musicals and it's hippified. for me, i love eddie izzard, the beatles and it's artistic potential. i hope it doesn't let me down.

a TWO concert summer

sara and i are dave matthews fans. if you have ever talked to sara at ALL, you know this. sara is the much bigger fan than yours truly. i enjoy the summer concerts more for the atmosphere that live music provides, but she is devoted year round. it's not really a summer for us without dave. this year we went to two concerts, in pittsburgh and in va beach.

both concerts were great for different reasons.


in pittsburgh, the concert itself was really good. the weather was incredible, great seats. we were able to get there thanks to a man named Don Barker of Burgettstown, PA, who gave us two gallons of gas. we also spent the next day in pittsburgh, shopping at a really cool downtown flea market/restaurant area. we also went to the andy warhol museum. awesome. i love pop art. that hasn't changed since junior high school. warhol is from pittsburgh. very cool museum. get in your car and visit it right now. they let me take photos...sweet.

in virginia beach, we didn't have seats, but sat in the very back of the lawn. however, this concert was more about hanging out with our friends. it was so good to see robert and kellee.
kellee is super cool and i don't get to see her enough, but i know she'd be there if i ever needed her. we didn't get to see our friend, elizabeth, :( but we love her anyway. robert hung out with us before and during the concert.
robert actually bought a single seat and shared it with sara, so she could see her favorite song, #41 (only FIVE rows away from dave.) robert is one of my friends that i'm SO comfortable with that i tend to get in trouble. if i want to go out and get drunk, i call robert. this time, it was sara's turn. i don't think i've seen sara quite this way before, but it was AWESOME.

















Here are some quotes:

1. "I want to high five a stranger."
(She did not accomplish this goal. She did high five the window a couple of times and yell "high five" out the window at a woman walking down the street.)

2."Robert is fun." (Wonder why she thinks that? :) )

3. "No peeing yet - 3 1/2 rum and cokes, 1 beer and 2 waters and no peeing yet." (I was rolling.)

there are more, but not to be published on the internet. but needless to say, the evening was an utter blast. the next day, Sara says, "We should have Robert up to visit sometime soon." i had to laugh. good times. gotta a sweet new hat. it's not summer without dave.

future posts: weekend trip with maj, more with mom

i'm a closet liberal

for those of you that know me outside of work, you know full well that i'm a flaming democrat. although i may not always agree with the democratic party and their choices, but i could never foresee myself as a republican. i don't hate republicans...to each their own. however, in my current job, i have found the one bastion of conservatism filled with people with very outspoken opinions in a very blue state .

i have heard opinions about hillary, obama, rosie o'donnell...not in a good way. it's been assumed that i am conservative AND straight. and surprisingly enough, these people would easily accept my orientation...but probably not my liberalism. i try not to discuss politics with people that don't know my background. it's not one of my favorite topics anyhow. however, i do feel that my opinions would not be welcome. one gentleman has suggested that i give dennis miller a listen (now a conservative). another gentleman takes his 10 minute break to read the drudge report on his laptop. these are SERIOUS conservatives. i love them as people, but it's weird that my liberalism puts me in another minority.

i own the most decorated desk in the office. toys, old displays, photos and posters of actors, movies, musicians, friends and family. but after six months, i think that all they've picked up about me is that i like brad pitt and have two cats.

i've come out as a lesbian to five people since i've been there. i've only told two people that i'm a democrat.

yes, i work in a bookstore.

to scrapbook or not to scrapbook

you can't tell me that chrissy isn't having fun....at least in this photo. a small contingent of women gathered at our place last weekend for an afternoon of scrapbooking and appetizers.

chrissy, danielle and raeann made the trip to our home across the bridge for the afternoon. it was the first time that raeann joined our group, but i think she enjoyed herself (without the scrapbooking).

it was good to talk to her about her pregnancy and the excitement attached to that event. we discussed my theory of another baby boom and their list of possible baby names. good times were had by all.

future posts: a trip to pittsburgh, dave concert at home, more with my mom

the worst haircut ever

this photo was taken shortly after applying product to the worst haircut ever. the picture is not flattering, but neither is the haircut. stylists LOVE to chop my hair. as a rule, i don't make conversation with the people cutting my hair. this time, however, i got into a brief conversation. I WILL NEVER DISTRACT ANOTHER PERSON WIELDING SCISSORS NEAR MY HEAD. i should never break my own rules. now i'm paying the price. i feel that any chance that my gayness could be hidden is gone with the existance of this haircut. however, a co-worker actually told me that it looked "feminine." i don't know what is worse.

sara was not home when i got back from the salon. but when she saw me all she said was, "wow, it's short." i freaked out. only a select few will be privy to the photo i took of myself without product in my hair.

all i know is....my mom is going to love it.

future post: a scrapbooking event with friends at our home