Kristabella: Full of Snark Since 1977

Posted By Kristabella on January 13, 2010

So remember yesterday when I blamed Twitter for my lack of posting? TWITTER IS THE DOWNFALL OF BLOGGING, I said. TWITTER SUCKS MY CREATIVITY, I lamented. 140 CHARACTERS IS ALL I CAN MANAGE, I whined.

Well today Twitter redeemed itself.

That’s not actually true. I actually love Twitter. I might be addicted to Twitter. (Might. HAHAHA! That’s rich.) It’s the only way I’ve been able to feel connected to the blogging world when my posting has been so infrequent. So it is like a damn double-edged sword. Zaps my creativity, which makes me blog less, which makes me tweet more, just to be a part of the blogosphere. That might be the lamest, nerdiest, saddest sentence ever.

Twitter is good. I can get the weather every morning from the local news outlets. I follow one of the Chicago weather guys, who actually tweets more about golf and his vacations to Florida than the weather. I know of events happening in the world, usually before a lot of non-tweeters. I can warn my mom when there are delays on the train and when she should take the bus instead. I can share with everyone this creepy photo of my cat so that if I wake up and somehow my brains are eaten, WE WILL ALL KNOW WHY.

See? Twitter can sometimes serve a purpose. Like it did today.

I’ve been thinking about starting to babysit in my free time. Mostly for the extra money (to start a laptop fund) and also because I’ve really started to think that child care might be in my future, especially if I have no kids of my own. So I figured that stepping my toe into the babysitting waters, babysitting people not related to me, would help me realize if I would like to go into child care or if I should just stick to becoming a best-selling novelist.

I don’t really know how people find babysitters. So I figured “a lot of the people I know on Twitter are moms and I think they have babysitters, I’ll ask them.”

I actually didn’t think I would get any responses. But I did! I got LOTS of responses! And people told me about SitterCity! And then SitterCity followed me on Twitter! And I started a profile! I just need to write a bio that doesn’t mention snark or booze and take a photo the exact OPPOSITE of the one I use on Twitter, Facebook and this blog, and I’ll be all set to go! People will love me and clamor for me to be their babysitter! Because I am like a child myself! I’ll be the star of SitterCity! And you cannot tell me otherwise!

On top of it, I didn’t actually expect for one tweet to lead to an honest to goodness babysitting job this Saturday! For a blogger! Twitter FTW!

I’m excited! I enjoy babysitting. I love kids, so I’m really looking forward to taking this on as a side gig. Because it forces me to do something on the weekends and not spend money, and I get to make money money, make money money! So maybe I’ll have a new laptop sooner rather than later.

Category: All Things Blogging | 27 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on January 12, 2010

I know my posting in the last, like, 5 months has been few and far between. It was never my intention. I had been a 3-5 posts per week kind of gal. But at some point, my brain stopped working the same way. Part of it was probably The Sads. But I like to blame Twitter. Because when something happens, I can just go on Twitter and do a mini-post in 140 characters.

For example:

Before I would probably wax poetically about how I sat in my PJs all day, becoming one with the couch cushions, watching endless hours of reality television, which led to dreams about The Situation. I would have stretched one event, one Tweet-able event, into a whole post. Nowadays I can’t seem to find that kind of creativity and writing ability for a tweet, let alone a post. And that makes me sad. Reality television is rotting my brain, apparently. But I won’t give up Jersey Shore!

I don’t generally do New Year’s resolutions. It’s just really setting myself up to fail. I mean why do I have to wait until January 1 to decide to do something or change something? It’s within all our powers to make those changes/decisions every single day. But since January 1 happened to fall close to me falling off the blogging wagon, I decided that this could be my resolution. I need to write more and make it a habit again. Find my passion for it and not feel like it is a chore. (Not sure why I feel that way when it isn’t a JOB.)

There was a story on the radio the other day about how people need hobbies. The DJ on the morning show was talking about how even though his job was his life and his number one love, he still needed a hobby to be sane. And it is true. We all need that part of our lives where we can unwind and enjoy what we are doing. I’d say that blogging is definitely one of my biggest hobbies. Right after drinking. Ba-dum-bum.

But lately I don’t put as much effort into my favorite hobby as I once did. And I think not taking the time to write, to get my therapy through writing, to connect with all of you, leads me into a vicious circle of feeling depressed and tired and leading me to just check out and spend time bonding with my couch and remote. And that’s not really good for anyone, let alone the springs in the couch.

Recently, every time I set out to write and I’m too tired or I don’t have anything to say, I just give up. In the past, I would have sat there looking at a blank, white screen, digging down deep to find something to write about. I need to get back to that. (This post is an example that I still am able to do just that.) I need to write and love writing again. I need to not let the opinion of some regarding my writing get me down and just make me pull away, pull away from something that keeps me sane and that I love to do. Something I’m passionate about. I need to keep my creative energy flowing because it is there and I can put it to good use. I mean, do you know how many other things in this world can be labeled with a label maker? IT COULD BE A WEEKLY SEGMENT! “Labeling the Land with Kristabella!”

So I’m not going to make any promises. Because sometimes I fall asleep on the couch before 9 PM because I am old. And sometimes I go out and drink too much wine. But I am promising myself to make more of an effort, to not give up so easily and to force myself to post when I just don’t feel like it. Because it is good for me. Like exercise. Which I should also probably do more of as well. But  baby steps, people, baby steps. It’s only January 12.

Category: All Things Blogging, Writing | 20 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on January 10, 2010

I’m back from Atlanta. Did you know I went to Atlanta this past weekend? If you follow me on Twitter, you would know that. And yes, I was just there a month ago. I’m beginning to think my boss is going to think something is up because I’ve been there three times since the end of September. And would go back tomorrow if I could.

I went to visit Ali. But this time, I had others with me. Slynnro and Metalia also were in town and it was like a BlohHer 2009 reunion! And it was fantastic! And also too short and I already miss those guys terribly.

I’m not generally a nervous traveler. I’ve actually gotten really blase about the whole traveling thing and have had the habit of showing up to the airport with just enough time to check my bag, head through security and grab a bottle of water before final boarding call. It’s not intentional, but something generally happens that makes me later than I want and then I panic until I’m sitting in the seat, knowing I WILL NOT miss my flight.

For instance, this past Thursday when I left, we had a bit of a snow storm. I was incessantly checking the weather like a fiend the days leading up to my flight because I didn’t want to be delayed. I was only going to be in Atlanta for a few short days and I didn’t want flight delays to cut into that time. The weather forecast the night before I left was for 6-10 inches of snow in Chicago and up to 2 inches of snow in Atlanta. I went to bed figuring I wasn’t going to make it to Atlanta because when it snows there, the city shuts down. (I HAVE NOW WITNESSED IT FIRST HAND, TRUST ME.)

The forecast in Chicago was for an inch or two overnight Wednesday (nothing to us Chicagoans) and then the heavy stuff was going to start falling Thursday afternoon. This left a PERFECT window for me to leave on time for my 11 AM flight. But when I woke up to pee early Thursday morning around 2 AM and didn’t see one snowflake on the ground, I knew that I wasn’t going to be so lucky.

When I finally got up around 7:30 Thursday morning, I looked out and saw a lot of snow and it was still coming down. The traffic lady on the radio was all “so, be prepared to just keep sitting in your car. You ain’t going anywhere any time soon.”

All I thought was “GREEEEAT.”

My original plan to drive and park near an EL station was blown out of the water when I saw and heard what the roads were like. Plan B was to walk to the bus and then bus to the EL and then transfer to the Orange line and take it to Midway. In my head, I gave myself a little over an hour. My head apparently forgot that the roads were slow, hence, the BUSES WOULDN’T BE MOVING SO FAST.

Thankfully I made it to the airport an hour before my flight. I went through security, walked and got something to eat and headed to my gate. As I got there, they said they were boarding everyone now to try and get out of Chicago earlier before the BAD snow came. Thank God I didn’t stop to take a dump.

We didn’t actually leave early. But we left sooner than we should have, seeing as they not only had to de-ice the plane, they had to de-snow it.

That is not just a white wing. It is a wing of an airplane with two inches of snow on it.

Thankfully in all my Atlanta travels, I’ve learned they pad about 40 minutes onto the flight time, since you’re flying into the world’s busiest airport. So even though we left late, we still landed on time.

Just in time for it to start snowing in Atlanta. That white shit follows me EVERYWHERE!

The snow wasn’t too bad in Atlanta, but since it is Atlanta and they have hills and no plows or salt, it was bad. They had a snow/ice day on Friday, which didn’t please Ali so much since the kids had just gone back to school after two weeks off for the holidays. (Even though it is a Jewish school.) So the plans of spending the day leisurely shopping and lunching and sipping cocktails were thwarted since we’d have three kids in tow.

Not that I mind. I love Ali’s kids as if they were my own, or at least related to me. It just makes Ali’s life a little more stressful. I’m sure she enjoys her days to herself so she can do things like her job and other stuff.

But we had a fabulous weekend. We went shopping. We had good food. I became addicted to Words With Friends on the iPhone, sitting around the table playing games with each other and laughing at our choice of words. (Jill is acceptable, but android is not. And apparently I am not familiar at all with most of the words in the English language that are more than two letters.) We laughed so much our stomachs hurt and then we just kept laughing.

Emily entertained us with her damn good modeling skills (she is 8 and better than most Top Model contestants. She can SMISE!). Josh was spending just another day surrounded by ALL WOMEN and has perfected the girl tune-out at a very young age. And Bella was well, Bella.

Dear internet, this is what I teach your kids when you let me around them. But this led to Ali showing her kids clips of Monty Python, so I’m pretty sure I am a genius.

I was sad to come home. It’s been over 24 hours and I’m still sad and missing everyone. I know I say this every time I come back from Atlanta, or when I hang out with my friends from the interweb, but there is nothing like the friendships I have made through blogging. I came home OVERJOYED at the friends I am lucky enough to have from writing a silly little blog. I don’t know how I could have ever had a complete life without some of these people in it.

Thankfully Bella gave me something to remind me of all this, and it is hanging proudly on my fridge.

Category: All Things Blogging, Gotta Have Friends, Travel, Weather dot com | 13 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on January 6, 2010

(I should note that I wrote this last night when my laptop died. And then I spent about 2 hours trying to post it to my blog from my phone. YESTERDAY WAS A TECHNOLOGY FAIL, TO SAY THE LEAST.)

:::::

I’m posting this from my iPhone. I hope it doesn’t turn out like the last post I tried to write on my phone that I LOST, which I would link to, but you can’t do that shit on here. Or if you can, I have no idea how.

Anyway, my laptop won’t turn on. Research again tells me this is the same motherboard issue. And that losing wireless access was like losing the ability to walk. Now it doesn’t even turn on. It is dead. Dead and gone, like Justin Timberlake so poetically sings.

I thought I’d have a few more days! A few more days to say our goodbyes! At least a few more days to use the Ethernet cable that I JUST BOUGHT LAST NIGHT! (Oh and funny side note, I kept the packaging and receipt yesterday in case it didn’t work and then JUST TONIGHT figured it was safe to throw it away and tear up the receipt into TINY LITTLE PIECES! TINY LITTLE PIECES! There is $25 down the drain.)

So it is gone. I’m sad because I didn’t back it up. After ALL that talk of backing it up when the wireless stopped working, I didn’t actually get around to backing it up. Because I was too lazy.

I actually was trying to be better about posting more regularly on here in 2010, or twenty ten. I have taken this as a sign that the greater human population DID NOT WANT THIS SAME THING! WHY???!?!? WHY WORLD, WHY?

In the mean time, I’ll be looking for a new laptop. Probably not a Mac, since I have zero money and they cost a lot more than zero money. But we’ll see. I’m going to be doing my research and NOT buying an HP again. (Seriously, there was this study and they were by far the worst when it comes to laptop reliability. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD KNOWLEDGE TO HAVE IN 2007! OR TWENTY OH SEVEN!) (ALSO, YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WARNED. DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS ME!)

Buy hey, now I can go to bed earlier and have more strange dreams about reality TV show people, which I would have told you about if not for the DYING LAPTOP and all.

Oh first world problems, why do you taunt me so? If my feet weren’t so sore from wearing these diamond shoes that are too tight, I’d totally kick someone or something.

Category: A Day in the Life of Me, Rants & Rants | 14 Comments »
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Posted By Kristabella on January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!

I had planned on doing one of those retrospective posts, but then my laptop up and decided not to be MOBILE. And since I am President of the Lazy Club, there is really no way where I was going to blog anywhere that wasn’t right in front of the TV on my comfy couch or from my comfy bed.

And then really, I thought about my 2009 and it wasn’t really all that eventful. And now that I just wrote that, I kind of forgot the whole “HEY, I BOUGHT A HOUSE!” thing that went on this year and consumed almost my entire first half of the year.

So I’m taking a page from Sarah and doing a photo retrospective. Almost five days into the new year. Because I can. And also, because I have no creativity tonight. I gave all my brain power to watching Intervention and Hoarders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

January

80s Party at a best-selling author’s house

I found my future home, my first purchase into adulthood.

February

My cat learned how to actually move a fake Ugg boot halfway across my house.

March

I went to Arizona

Met my BFF’s daughter Noe.

April

I closed on my house.

And wrote one of the funniest posts I’ve ever written. In my opinion.

May

I moved in and put up my first shower rod.

I was thanked! IN A BOOK! A HARDCOVER BOOK!

June

I went to New Orleans for the first time ever!

July

BlogHer

My oldest half-sister turned 21. I became officially old.

August

Bacon fell in love.

September

I turned 32 and celebrated with ALL my favorite people, including my sister and my mom.

I went to Atlanta.

October

I got a new blog design and I won a label maker.

My favorite niece turned four.

November

I became a fan of the Neti sinus rinse.

December

I went back to Atlanta and spent the weekend coloring and drawing with Ali’s daughter Isabella. It was AWESOME! I’m the best Kristin ever!

I made homemade bread for the first time. CHALLAH!

So happy New Year to all of you! Hope you all had a wonderful celebration while ringing in 2010. Thank you all for coming here and reading and being apart of my life. I wouldn’t have made it through 2009 without all of you.

(Question: Does anyone else prefer two-thousand-and-ten to twenty-ten? Twenty-ten sounds so weird to me. Discuss amongst yourselves.)

Category: A Day in the Life of Me, All Things Blogging | 18 Comments »
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