2009-02-23

Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc.

The Pet Shop Boys have been a favorite of mine for many years. I remember the first time I heard West End Girls playing on the radio and was amazed. It wasn't until Discography came out (and I also came out of the closet finally) that I was blown away by their music. Since then I have bought all of their CDs and DVDs. By using not only their music but also video, their concerts are works of art themselves.

Here is their latest single, Love Etc. from their upcoming CD Yes.


Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc.


I had the pleasure of seeing PSB in concert in Chicago in 2002. The concert was amazing! I would jump at the chance to see them perform again. Their concerts are simply out of this world!!!

Here is the PSB performing live at the Brit Awards. They sang a lot of their previous hits (including Love Etc.). Also performing with them is Lady GaGa (doing the Dusty Springfield part from What Have I Done To Deserve This? and Brandon Flowers, from the Killers, singing It's A Sin (my all-time favorite PSB song). As usual, it is an excellent performance by them!

Pet Shop Boys live at the Brit Awards


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2009-02-16

100 Truths

Since I skipped over the 25 Questions meme, I will do this one. Thanks to Laurel (a classmate from high school...Go Trojans!)

FIVE LASTS:
1. Last beverage → Diet Sunkist Orange
2. Last phone call → Douglass
3. Last text message → Douglass
4. Last song you listened to → Matt Alber "End of the World"
5. Last time you cried → It has been a while

SIX HAVE YOU EVER:
6. Dated someone twice? Yes
7. Been cheated on? Yes
8. Kissed someone & regretted it? I don't think so
9. Lost someone special? Yes
10. Been depressed? Yes
11. Been drunk and threw up? Unfortunately, Yes

LIST FOUR FAVORITE COLORS: (These are my top 4 Fiesta colors)
12. Chartreuse
13. Scarlet
14. Tangerine
15. Peacock

HAVE YOU:
16. Made new friends → Yes
17. Fallen out of love → No
18. Laughed until you cried → Yes
19. Met someone who changed you → Oh yes
20. Found out who your true friends were → Yes
21. Found out someone was talking about you → Yes
22. Kissed anyone on your friend's list → yes
23. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life → All of them
24. How many kids do you want to have → I would like 2, but would be happy with 1
25. Do you have any pets → Yes, currently 1 dog and 1 parrot
26. Do you want to change your name → No, but I am not against changing it either
27. What did you do for your last birthday → Don't remember
28. What time did you wake up today → around 10am
29. What were you doing at midnight last night → On the computer
30. Name something you CANNOT wait for → the HLCCA Conference in July
31. Last time you saw your father→ February or March of 1999, he passed away April 1, 1999.
32. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life → I will keep that one to myself.
33. Been in love? ---> Yes
34. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom → Yes
35. What's getting on your nerves right now? → The cold weather
36. Most visited webpage → My blog
37. What's your name → James Craig Wiman
38. Nicknames → I have always gone by my middle name, Craig
40. Zodiac sign → Gemini
41. Male or female or transgender → Male
42. Elementary → Robinson, Ashmore, Jefferson
43. Middle School → Charleston Jr. High
44. High school → Charleston High School
45. Hair color → Brown
46. Long or short → VERY Short, I shave it every so often
47. Height → 6'3''
49: What do you like about yourself? → Sense of humor
50. Piercings → One
51. Tattoos → Not yet
52. Righty or lefty → Right

FIRSTS :
53. First surgery → Appendix removal
54. First piercing → I only have the 1...somewhere unmentionable
55. First best friends → Jeff Anderson
57. First pet → Barney
58. First vacation → Higgins Lake, MI
59. First concert → Jackson Browne (my dad dragged us there on vacation, I was 9 at the time)
60. First crush → We'll leave that one blank ;)

RIGHT NOW:
61. Eating → Just finished
62. Drinking → Ditto
63. I'm about to → Go to sleep
64. Listening to → Nothing
65. Waiting for → The dog to go outside before bed

YOUR FUTURE
66. Want kids? Yes
67. Want to get married? Yes
68. Careers in mind? The geek in me wants to do something techy

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX? (Sorry, I went same sex here...DUH)
69. Lips or eyes → Eyes
70. Hugs or kisses → Kisses
71. Shorter or taller → Taller
72. Older or Younger → Doesn't matter
73. Romantic or spontaneous ? Both are good
74. Nice stomach or nice arms→ Arms
75. Sensitive or loud → Sensitive
76. Hook-up or relationship → Relationship
77. Trouble maker or hesitant → Hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER :
78. Kissed a stranger → Yes
79. Drank hard liquor → Yes
80. Lost glasses/contacts → I have never lost either, unless you count all of the contacts that the dog has eaten.
81. Sex on first date → Yes
82. Broken someone's heart → Yeah, I used to be called a tease all of the time
83. Had your own heart broken → Yeppers
85. Been arrested → Yes
86. Turned someone down → Yes
87. Cried when someone died → Yes
88. Liked a friend that is a girl? → Yep...and even liked one of them a lot more

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
89. Yourself → Yes
90. Miracles → Yes
91. Love at first sight → Yes
92. Heaven → Yes
93. Santa Clause → Yes
95. Kiss on the first date? → Yes
96. Angels → Yep, and I even met a guardian angel once (probably a lot more...I have survived some stupid things)

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes
98. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? Yes
100. Posting this as 100 Truths? Yes

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2009-02-15

Weekly Meme: Be My Valentine

I am going to try another weekly meme. Hopefully I (and the meme writer) can keep up on it. This is actually from last week, but I thought I would start here.



randomness...feed your mind and your blog


In honor of Valentine's Day:

answer the following....
1. If you could have any Celebrity Valentine, who would it be?
Jason Statham, very hot, sexy eyes, and that voice!

2. What is your idea of a romantic date?
I can think of all kinds of romantic dates, but each one involves two people that are more into each other than what is going on around them. If they are truly into each other, it doesn't matter what else is happening.

3. Do you prefer chocolates or flowers on Valentine's Day?
Neither. I am not a chocolate person. And definitely not a flower person either.

4. What is your favorite romantic movie? romantic book?
I guess the Tales of the City books. I always cry when Mouse and Jon are together. And I definitely cry when we learn that Jon died.

5. Do you like those 'conversation hearts' or do you think they taste gross?
I LOVE them! I get a bag of them each year.

6. Who is your Valentine this year?
The same as it has been the last 4 Valentines Day. Even though we are just "special" friends right now, he knows that I love him.

Extra word association:
I say...you think...
1. Valentine Hearts
2. Cute Smile
3. Romantic Love
4. Red HOT
5. Flowers Spring
6. Candy Sugary-Goodness YUM
7. Cupid naked arrow-shooting baby


till next time....

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2009-02-13

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mom's 61st birthday. There are quite a few of her wisdom's in here!




Thanks for everything mom!!!

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2009-02-06

46 Questions

I stole this from my friend Terry. He originally posted this on Facebook, so I thought I would put it on my blog. And I kept his instructions, even though they are written for Facebook. And I don't tag people. Fill this out if you feel the need or desire. Otherwise just read and enjoy. And you can comment, it won't kill ya!

Here are the rules - post this list on your profile (in Notes) replacing my answers with yours.

Tag 25 people to do the same thing. (or tag the number of people you think will enjoy this the most)

If I tagged YOU, it's because I want to know more about YOU! and I am evil.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANY ONE? My first name, James, is a family name on my dad's side. It was his name and it appears way too many times in the family tree. I have absolutely no idea where the name Craig came from. And for your info, my parents, even though they named me James Craig, they always called me Craig. The only time I ever went by the name James was for a very short time in college. I hated going by James, and when the professors would call me by James, I would have no idea they were talking to me. No idea what they thought of me when I couldn't answer my own name. LOL

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Sadly, every since Mikey died, I haven't had a good cry. When I am feeling sad or emotional, I get the same feelings and emotions as crying but it is extremely rare that there are any tears. Yeah, I am a freak. Thanks for asking. :P

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? It is okay. It is a hybrid of cursive and printing. Plus my handwriting likes to go a few different ways from time to time. Sometimes my handwriting looks like a mixture of my grandparents. My grandmother has a very distinct and neat handwriting, while my grandfather has a very messy chicken-scratchy handwriting.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I am not very picky about lunch meat. I like turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef, pastrami, and braunschweiger.  I just don't eat a lot of lunch meat.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? I have a 2 1/2 year old pitbull puppy who is the biggest baby around. I also have a 9 year old Yellow-Naped Amazon parrot. After them, I don't think I could handle kids.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Only if I paid myself. LOL Just kidding. Hell yeah I would be friends with myself. I am the only sane person I know. LOL Just kidding again. Or am I???

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Who Me??????? (looking very angelic) HAHA

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes, I keep it in a jar in the kitchen. I sure hope nobody cooks it by mistake. HA, just kidding. Yes, I have never had my tonsils taken out. I did have my appendix taken out 3 years ago.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Hell yeah, in a second I would do it. But since it is extremely flat where I live, it ain't gonna happen around here.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? I don't eat a lot of cereal, but my faves are Raisin Bran or Lucky Charms. Used to be Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries was the only cereal I would eat.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope. Well, I have to untie my fireman boots that I wear sometimes, otherwise I couldn't get them on or off.

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Pretty much any ice cream that has peanut butter (salmonella free of course), fudge and/or caramel in it.

13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? I am weird, I just get a feeling that I notice. I sometimes remember their eyes or smile.

14. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONLY ONE ALBUM FRONT TO BACK FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? In this day and age...who has albums anymore? If I had to choose just one CD, it would be Pet Shop Boys Discography.

15. RED OR PINK? Sorry MsVal, but it is definitely Red. I am not a pink person.

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? That I am a procrastinator and that I get so emotional over silly things.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? I miss my parents, Mikey and Jeff the most. I am pretty sure I think about them everyday.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST? I am not a tagger. If you want to do this, knock yourself out. I am pretty sure a few of my blogger friends will do this. We are just that way!

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? I am wearing some green and blue plaid lounge pants and no shoes. Does that turn you on??? Sick perverts.

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The TV is on but I am not watching it.

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? How racist. I would be the rainbow colored crayon.

22. FAVORITE SMELLS? FOOD!!! Yeah, I am hungry right now. I need to finish this up so I can go get something to eat before work.

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Douglass, even though he has lost his voice and can't talk very well right now.

24. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Nobody sent it to me, but I am friends with the guy that I stole it from.

25. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Baseball or College Basketball or College Football

26. HAIR COLOR? Brown. It is still brown (very little gray is showing up) but the hair on my head cut extremely close so it is very hard to tell what color it is. My goatee (when I had it) had a lot of gray and white hair in it. But I got rid of the goatee with the new job.

27. EYE COLOR? Green, no Hazel, no Grey. Honestly, my eye color changes every so often. Nothing dramatic but it does change between those colors.

28. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Sometimes. I need new glasses, so I am beginning to wear my contacts more often. I usually only wear them when I go out.

29. FAVORITE FOOD? I LOVE food...and my waist shows it!!! A good steak or a very good cheeseburger any day, any time!  Did I mention that it is lunch time and I am hungry????

30. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Somewhere in the middle. I find most scary movies lack any mind captivating

31. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I started watching Naked Men Singing the other night, but I fell asleep. I am getting old.

32. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Black.

33. SUMMER OR WINTER? Even though this winter has been bad, I still prefer winter over summer.

34. HUGS OR KISSES? Hershey Hugs are the best, but Kisses are good too. And yes, I don't go crazy about chocolate. But the Candy Cane Kisses that I got this Christmas were AMAZING!!!  As for Hugs or Kisses, if the person isn't repulsive, I don't think I have turned down either.

35. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? That one and that one over there. Guess where I was pointing.

36. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Them and them. Still pointing. I guess my mother never taught me not to point.

37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING RIGHT NOW? I was reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, until the dog chewed up the book when I only had 50 pages left. BITCH!

38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? The mouse! What a stupid question. Actually I am on the laptop right now, but the mouse for the desktop in on a Dell mousepad, even though the computer isn't a Dell.

39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Sadly, I wasn't feeling 100% last night, so I slept off and on most of last night. The TV was on, but I have no idea what was playing.

40. FAVORITE SOUND(S)? The sound of dollar bills being stuffed into my g-string. Oh wait, I was having a stipper flashback.

41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Either/Or. I like some of the music of both of them, but I don't love either one.

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Go to Google Maps and figure it out yourself. Either New Orleans or North Carolina. Yeah, I don't get around much.

43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Sure....you wanna see it? (said very sarcastically)

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? In a hospital.  What a silly question.  The hospital was in Monmouth, Illinois.  For those who just have to know.

45. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? The ones that answer. DUH!  Did I mention that I might be sarcastic???

46. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER? I think where we met the first time is better left unsaid. But when we first started seeing each other, we were talking online.

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43 Odd Things About Me

This meme comes from Becky's blog.

1. Do you like bleu cheese? I LOVE IT!!! I could eat blue cheese all the time.

2. Have you ever smoked? Yeah, for a very short time.

3. Do you own a gun? I have 2 squirt guns if those count. They are very sentimental to me. All I can say is June 7, 1991. For those of you who might remember. It was an excellent day for such a sad time.

4. What flavour of Kool-Aid was your favorite? Probably cherry. I haven't had Kool-Aid since I was a kid.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Sometimes. Mainly because I hope my blood pressure has gone down and I don't get scolded by the doctor again.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? A typical lunch for me.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Without a doubt, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!

8. Favorite thing to drink in the morning? Pineapple Orange Juice

9. Can you do push ups? No idea, haven't tried in years.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I only wear 1 piece of jewelry.

11. Favorite hobby? Fiesta dishes.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? Most likely...I am pretty sure I have had this since grade school. I never did well in school because I could never concentrate. I still suffer from this problem.

13. What's one trait you dislike about yourself? I am a terrible procrastinator.

14. Middle name? Craig. Ha...that doesn't help you out much. James is my first name.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this moment: "What am I going to eat for lunch" "How much time do I have before I need to get ready for work" "Another meme???"

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink: Water, Iced Tea and anything diet soda

17. Current worry? The car.

18. Current dislike right now? The fact that I really need to be cleaning this place instead of being on here. Oh well, even though I have said it for a few days now, I can always do it TOMORROW!!!

19. Favorite place to be? Bourbon Street, New Orleans

20. How did you bring in the new year? At home, I had to work that night and didn't get off work until 10pm. I know...BORING!

21. Where would you like to go? New Orleans (of course)or San Fransisco but the only plans so far are for Pittsburgh in July.

22. Name three people who might complete this? I am not a tagger. I always leave it up to other people to do it if they wish.

23. Do you own slippers? Yes, if the dog hasn't chewed them up, I have a pair of slippers somewhere.

24. What shirt are you wearing? A black t-shirt with the logo of a piercing/tattoo parlor. I got it when I got my body piercing (deals with #10).

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Not particularly. I prefer flannel sheets when it is cold and cotton sheets the rest of the year.

26. Can you whistle? So-So. Believe me, they won't be calling me to remake the Andy Griffith theme song, but I can get my dog's attention.

27. Favorite color? Blue

28. Would you be a pirate? Hell ya....that would be an awesome job. ARRRRHHHHH!

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I am not a singer. I might sing along with the radio in the car but only if I am by myself.

30. Favorite Girl's Name: Robin

31. Favorite boy's name: Noah or Jake

32. What's in your pocket right now? Lint

33. Last thing that made you laugh? I had a good laugh when I found out somebody had been fired. And no, it isn't anybody I worked with. Long story behind it, but this person got what they deserved.

34. What vehicle do you drive? Toyota 4Runner

35. What is the worst injury you have had? Either my numerous back problems or the car accident in 1990 when I suffered a concussion. I still have memory problems that I blame on that concussion.

36. Do you love where you live? Not really. It is an apartment.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 1 TV and the laptop has a tv tuner.

38. Who is your loudest friend? That would be the pet parrot. It is mating season and she is extremely vocal lately.

39. Does someone have a crush on you? I think there are a few people.

40. Your favorite book(s): There are quite a few. But I love to read and will read just about anything.

41. Do you collect anything? Fiesta dishes, Tigger items and Christmas items (including Dept. 56 North Pole Village).

42. Favorite Sports Team? Used to be the New York Mets, but I haven't kept up with them in a few years. I do enjoy watching games at Wrigley Field in Chicago, so I guess the Chicago Cubs.

43. What songs do you want played at your funeral? "The Rose" by Bette Midler. It was one of my mom's favorite songs. We had it played at her funeral and every time I hear it it still brings a tear to my eye.

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2009-02-03

Work is a VERY DIRTY 4-letter word!

Work has been unbelievable this past few weeks. There are 2 other guys that have the same position as me. Don is the most experienced one of the three. The other guy is Seth. The nicest thing I can say about Seth is.......let me get back to you on that. It takes 3 of us to get everything done and cover all of the hours. Our department is open from 8am to 9 pm everyday, so there is very little overlapping in our shifts.

It has been no secret that Don would be on an 10 day vacation towards the end of January. He was leaving on a Friday and wouldn't be back until two Mondays later. Our boss was going to help pick up the extra coverage, but even he admits that he is unable to do our job very well. So it was going to be Seth and me. That is stressful enough, but it got even better when Seth decided he was going to quit. So it became a guessing game as to how long he would work. He did work 2 days of the week, so it wasn't a total screw up, but it still SUCKED!!! I ended up working 14 days in a row. Last week I ended up with between 65 and 70 hours. That doesn't include the work I did off the clock, only so we wouldn't be in as much trouble. Yeah, we (my boss and I) were informed that there would be NO overtime! HUH! AS IF!

The week started off pretty good. Business was so-so. So there were no major catastrophes. Friday and Saturday were crazy. Friday business really picked up. We knew it had to happen eventually, they hadn't been in during the week, so we knew they would hit us hard over the weekend. Saturday was INSANE!!! It started off crazy and only got worse. Business was HUGE! The sales ad we had last week was CRAZY!!! It is one of the worst sales ads out there, it takes a lot of labor to keep up with it, so it was definitely not the right week for that. And with the Superbowl on Sunday, it was only that much more crazy!
Sunday morning they called all of us into a meeting. It turns out Saturday had been one of our best sales days yet. They were all impressed by how much we did and how well we kept up! And then we all had to get back to work, because with the big game later, sales were starting to build up. I only ended up staying an extra hour on Sunday. I was so sore from the previous week that I couldn't make it. I guess that the business never really died down from there.

I had to work Monday (day 13 in a row without a day off!) The good thing is that I am back to working evenings!!! The bad thing, I had to listen to the night managers bitch and moan about how poorly this place was taken care of last week during the evening shifts. So sorry, I was having to work the day shifts and there was nobody qualified to take care of it.The best news, I have 2 days off in a row!!! I can finally get caught up on bills, laundry, cleaning, dishes, mail a couple of packages and RELAX!!! So Sallie, Kelly and MySuperSecretSanta, your packages on the way. And no, I am not saying who MySuperSecretSanta is....they might or might not read this message board. Cheers!

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