Too Many Books

Hmm . I typed the title of this blog and then looked at it and said out loud, "RE - solutions." Since lately I feel a lack of resolve for anything other than my own personal pity party, I think I'll look at January 1st a bit differently this year. I won't have any New Year's Resolutions. I will just try to think of new solutions for my past problems - I'll re-solute. For instance, I'll start with my mp3 player. It's been driving me nuts. My computer died and I bought a lap-top. I tried to re-install and re-subscribe to Rhapsody, as my account with them had expired. That worked fine; I've logged in and listened to songs and they've certainly debited my bank account every month, but... I can only listen to songs while I'm sitting at my lap top. When I try to listen to songs using my little, cheap, piece-of-shit device, this error message comes up that says I need to " synchronize my device." I don't know how to do this; thus, I...

Lately I find I procrastinate more than ever. This life is difficult to lead. I used to claim I worked well on a deadline. However, older and wiser, I know now that I work well on someone else's deadline: self-imposed deadlines are harder to meet, and its easy to give oneself an extension. I procrastinate daily. I wait until THE very last minute to get in the shower and start getting ready for work. I wait until THE very last minute to Christmas shop, assemble and wrap gifts. I wait until THE very last minute to do dishes. (That only means that I do dishes when the sink is full and starting to smell a bit off, and my husband is making snide remarks about not being able to cook in our dirty kitchen.) Let me be fair to myself: I don't procrastinate at work. I have been deemed a workaholic, but I don't take actual work home with me. I'm paid hourly; I don't work for free. The only work I bring home is the mental and emotional baggage of the work day. That's even mo...

Some years ago, almost four years ago, people including doctors thought I might suffer from bipolar disorder. I'll leave out the gory details, but I kid you not - for more than a week I could not sleep, eat, or really function at all. The wheels in my head were turning. I felt a creative genius, that I could conquer all my fears and start a fulfilling career. I sought information. I talked to anyone who wanted to give me advice or was willing to listen. I thought I could become an advertising exec or an event planner. I wanted to use my college degree in English, my minor in communication. I did a ton of reading, writing, and talking. I ended up in the hospital. I was diagnosed with a chemical imbalance. I took an ungodly amount of doctor prescribed medication. I crumbled. I couldn't go back to work for months - well, a couple of months. I had to reintegrate myself back into my job as a waitress. I was embarrassed . I was groggy. I was done with ambition. This happened almost ...

Sponsored in part by WFPK and First Capital Bank of Kentucky, Dar Williams at The Clifton Center last night was emotionally moving and inspiring. I am not sure I could have enjoyed it more than I did. I kept pinching myself and my "date" to ensure it was real. Dar and her guitar, acoustic. Dar, singing many of the songs that got me through the last decade, songs that shaped my little worldview, songs that sometimes let me escape. Do any of my few readers know the singer/songwriter? I was blessed to interview Dar in the late October of 2000 for the University of Kentucky's student newspaper. I was able to talk to her over the phone, and she was friendly, engaging, and happy to answer the questions I was obliged to ask her. (The first album she bought might have been The Who, the first concert she remembers attending was The Police, etc.) When I went to her show the night before the presidential election in the year 2000, I was sick. Literally. The next day I wound up in ...

I first wrote this on facebook, but here it is again, filed in a spot in my heart and now, here... IUPUI By Amberv Murphy Filed in : Recap Did anyone else attend Tuesday night's barn burner against IUPUI, or "ewwy-pooewy" as my hubby, a Louisville fan, called them? I was lucky enough to sit in the North Lodge (a la "stand up, old people") during the second half and the energy in the crowd was ELECTRIC. I was pinching myself to score such great tickets at a great price. Ten rows from the floor, I sported my 87' champs t-shirt, which I've worn since my dad gave it to me in the 80's, so it's threadbare but perfect. I'm die hard, bleeding crimson and cream, and never daunted, though I had to move away from Bedford, Indiana to Louisville as a child. I never wavered from my Hoosier loyalty. Through it all, we are tried and true. It doesn't matter how young or inexperienced we are this year, or what sanctions are imposed on us for our blissful y...

Friends like these are the best in life: they are the ones you can't help but quote, yet you respect them enough to not reveal their identity. You try to keep all their secrets, but sometimes forget when you say you'll take things to the grave for them. You love them dearly, so dearly, sooo dearly. You are inspired by them; you laugh at them and with them. My friend said this: I'm down because I'm getting old. Yes, old. I'm getting grayer, fatter, wrinklier, blinder, deafer and achier. Yes, I know those aren't real words, but this aging process should not be real either! I can't even do cardio because of a pinched nerve in my foot, so, I starve myself just to maintain. I recently discovered the illusive hangover. I never knew it could take an entire day to recover from drinking - not drunk, just DRINKING. And who knew that driving at night would become such a chore? I know that I would be better off with my glasses (which I lost in NY last month), but findin...

So: the bride's big day, she feels like a princess. Well, maybe. I would say I felt like Audrey Hepburn doing red carpet, were she young and modern in the world where I live today. I felt like a starlet, a diva, an Oscar Winner giving an acceptance speech. I wasn't bitchy, I didn't demand things, except a straw for a pre -ceremony bud lite. My wedding day could not have been more amazing. My honeymoon to Myrtle Beach, SC was actually enhanced by the impending tropical storm we named Hanna. (We being whoever names storms, not my new husband or myself.) We arrived in MB late on Labor Day, the first of September. The tropical storm wind and rain didn't come in until Friday afternoon. The rain came down in diagonal sheets. The wind ripped through us with watery pin pricks that stung even the slightest sunburn. The ocean and the waves crept closer and covered the beach. Idiots and their children were swimming, late night, where a sandy beach used to be - hours before the sto...