Anyway, today it helped me figure out the things I want to accomplish today…

- I need to write a blog about having pink hair and then keep up said blogs. Because I think it’s a really interesting thing to write about. Things have changed since I’ve had this hair. People smile at me more, people give me things or talk to me or reach out to me or trust me more. And i feel more like myself.
- I need to write more bride profiles for OBB.
- I need to teach Coco the new way of doing profiles that even I just perfected this morning.
- I need to finish editing the pics from Charles Phoenix’s tour.
- Once done, I need to post them on Flickr and then write a Megan Finley Photography blog post about it.
- I need to go to the grocery store (groan! there’s nothing that I hate more. okay, maybe going to the doctor).
- I need to do more laundry.
- I need to CLEAN! i mean like really clean. not like yesterday and days previous where I just did dishes and tidied up.
- I need to find and produce more content for My Maui Wedding.

And that’s basically what I need to do for just today. Maybe I’ll copy and paste that and post a quick blog about that in my funk in deep freeze blog. YAY! 810 words!

So yeah, check out 750 words if you get the chance it’s pretty freaking amazing. And they even email you at a specific time every day to remind you to keep up on the writing!

Jostens high school rings for gamers & geeks.

Right now I’m working on “geek week” for Offbeat Bride. A week full of weddings from so many sub-genres of “geeks,” “nerds” and “dorks” — Engineers, Lego addicts, sci-fi nerds, book nerds, comic book nerds, gamers, and the fantasy and theater types. These are all my people and I am one of them. Though if you wanna get specific about my type, I’m more of a bookish, Star Wars nerd, but I have interests in just about every sub-genre of geekery.

Growing up, being a geek was AWFUL. Thankfully I’m a girl, so I was saved from the harsher physical abuse, but still had to endure the nuggies, wedgies and trippings. But I suffered every kind of psychological abuse that the nerdy endure — teasing, harassing, public scorn, isolation, nasty notes written on lockers, etc.

In a lot of ways the word “geek” has been reclaimed. Nerds are cool right now — almost fetishized! The fact that there exists such a thing as “geek chic” blows my mind. People are starting to openly call themselves nerds, even people who are so clearly NOT and have NEVER BEEN nerds! I’m not exactly sure how this happened, but part of me glad of it, even if the other part is annoyed. I finally feel like I don’t have to hide who I am (or at the very least try to hide — I was never very good at it). And I wear the badge of “nerd” with pride. So much pride that I forget that it can still hold negative meanings.

Recently Aaron was called a nerd by his band mates when he referred to Joshua Tree as “like Tatooine.” And when he recounted the story I could tell that he was hurt by it. I spend so much time online, surrounded by like-minded people, that I forget that the same title that I’m proud to call myself, can still hurt others. So, as I put together these “geek week” bride profiles, I am making sure to only chose brides who have self-identified as geeks. As much as I want to profile the Lord of the Rings bride with her Star Trek garter belt, she never once admitted that she is a geek. And as I look through these pictures of her looking so beautiful in her glasses and LOTR-style wedding dress, I can’t help but wonder if I included her wedding in my celebration of geeks, would she be horribly hurt? Would she feel like I was making fun of her? Maybe to her “geek” would still be a hurtful term.

I’m in this good place in my life where I feel almost invincible. I am a fucking nerd and I’m proud of it.  I know who Tom Servo is, I am outraged over Episodes I-III, I know how to create a website — been doing it since I got my first laptop at 17, I’m proud of my book collection, I listen to Elton John and love songs in odd time signatures, I wear glasses (well, when I can afford to), I have a Engineer husband, I watch episodes (new and original) of Dr. Who on my PS3, I make a living as a blogger for god’s sake, I have problems with acne even now in my late 20s and I even snort when I laugh.

At some point in my college years when I realized that my friends not only accepted those things about me, but they actually liked those things about me, I embraced my inner geek and reclaimed that word. And I’m happy to let my geek flag fly!

First he shows me these rose petals and was like, NO! Not cheesy as Valentine’s day shit! But then he turned it over and showed me that the label says “Dried Leaves.” He thought that was too funny to pass up.

Then he gave me this weird ass wind-up chicken that poops bubble gum eggs. YAY! Endless entertainment with this thing.

Then this. For serious. I’m not even “blonde” anymore!

And my favorite gift — polka dot socks with poodles in love! Look, the boy poodle is wearing a top hat. How adorable.

To see more of our photos head over to the post on photography blog.

I found this old blog post that never got posted. I thought I’d resurrect it and post it now. Oh we were so young and in love back then. This was year two of our relationship, by the way.

“It winds from Chicago to LA, more than 2,000 miles all the way”… yup, Aaron and I took a Route 66 road trip and it was awesome! I flew to Indiana on New Years Eve and then drove w him from there to Oklahoma (where is family lives) and then from Oklahoma back to LA. 

INDIANA (New Years Day!)

After a New Years Eve filled with gunfire in the slums of Indianapolis, Aaron and i drove to see his family farm somewhere along the back roads of Indiana… pictures from the farm…

“now it goes through ST. LOUIS”…

Aaron surprised me to with a stop to see the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Since we were on our way to Oklahoma after the farm trip, we arrived there some time late at night. My camera ran out of batteries and this is the only picture I was able to take of it before it died…

“and down to MISSOURI”… After spending a fabulous night in Springfield, Missouri we got up early in the morning so we could take a tour of the “Fantastic Cavern” deep in the hills of Springfield, Missouri. us getting prepared to venture deep into the cavern…

hard hats…

and a ‘coon skin cap!

Mmm Mmm… that’s some fantastic cavern! And then it was back in the car again and back on our way to Oklahoma. Poor Aaron didn’t get ANY help driving as I am not the best at driving stick.

“And Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty…” okay, so Aaron’s folks actually live in Norman, Oklahoma, but it’s close enough! And Norman isn’t mentioned in the Route 66 song. But they live on a lake which is pretty cool!

We went fishing.

Or “sheeshing” as Aaron’s nephew calls it.

After the Oklahoma fun and one VERY VERY BAD Rose Bowl night!!! we continued our trip with a drive all the way back to LA! But before leaving Oklahoma we stopped at a rest stop right outside of Texas and look what we found!!!…

We made ourselves sick. “you’ll see Amarillo…” TEXAS Which is where we stopped for lunch the day after USC lost to them in the Rose Bowl. EVERYONE in the restaurant was wearing Longhorns shit. boo. Which was only slightly creepier than what we had to stop and see for ourselves in Groom, Texas… THE TACKIEST MONUMENT IN THE WORLD!!!!…

That tiny little speck leaning against the cross is Aaron, at 6′3”… yeah.

And the other tiny specks surrounding the cross are these statues of the story of Jesus being nailed to the cross.

Aaron and Jesus

Aaron trying to save Jesus.

Gallup, New Mexico cute hotel we stayed at

Arizona We decided to waste a few hours running around the desert… “the painted desert” of Arizona.

we got these glasses at Walgreens!

looking at petrified wood

And then we drove through Flagstaff, Arizona. Don’t forget Winona. Kingsman and Barstow but not San Bernadino. And then it was back home!!! Best road trip EVER!!!

This first one is from a party that a “friend” had where the theme was “dress up like a grown-up/your mom.”

I’m the one in the front that looks like a crazy beauty queen.

The only thing that I thought about this photo was, “man I wish my mom still had that dress.” Other than that, I had no warm thoughts — nothing that inspired any sort of “aw” reaction. But I remember taking that picture and having to sit on that girl’s lap. At one point we were the best of friends. At this point we were not. And it was awkward.

The next picture, from some pool party that I have no real memory of, has been haunting me for the last few days….

I’m the one with the bangs on the far left.

I have no memory of this day except for the fact that I was terrified that I would be one of the unfortunate nerds to get pushed in the pool by one of the popular kids.

As it was posted on Facebook most all of the kids in the picture have been “tagged” and, as you can imagine, there have been a lot of comments. My favorite one was from a guy that I actually remember very well as being a nice kid, (in fact, he’s the only non-white or asian kid in this photo) he said, “this looks like we got kidnapped and this is a “proof of life” picture. all of us except nicole, megan and jackie look like POWs.” Which is was dead-balls-on hilariously true.

The thing that’s been bugging me is that there is now a continuous dialog, in the comments of this photo, about memories from this particular 4th grade class. Schoolmate after schoolmate are posting funny memories and good times of which I have either NO memory of or I had totally forgotten about them until they mentioned it. How do they remember all these things when I can’t even remember even being in this particular class!???

I honestly think I’ve purposely blocked those memories. Going to this school was awful for me. I cried every morning as I put on that itchy uniform. I had been pulled out of a school that I was happy attending and put into this school in the 3rd grade. I think my parents thought that I would have no trouble adapting as all the neighborhood kids went to this school — instant friends! When in fact, becoming friends with me was equal to committing social suicide as, once we were all in a school setting together, it was easy to see that I was VERY different from all of them.  So all the neighborhood girls that I used to be friends completely ignored me as a schoolmate. And that was how my life as a nerd became solidified.

So, all because I had been “tagged” in these damn photos just made me realize that I can’t think of ONE good memory from these times. And although that really bugs me, I’m just glad I survived to become the girl I am today. And let me just say that being an adult nerd is a MILLION times better than being a young nerd.

I admit it, I watch The Real World. I’ve been watching it since I was a youngster and I watch it still. This newest season, the D.C. season, is probably the LEAST interesting bunch of kids that have ever been cast. But beyond boring, the girls got downright PATHETIC in the last episode.

I can’t STAND women and their body issues. I feel like body issues should be like your genitals: keep them to yourself unless invited to share. I have body issues, other women have body issues, boys have body issues, EVERYONE does. I have been fortunate enough to surround myself with friends (boys and girls) who don’t harp on and on about theirs, at least in public. The few times when I’ve actually been on the receiving end of someone saying something negative about their body it’s kind of shocking to me and I don’t know how to act. I don’t want to encourage them by giving them a compliment back, but I don’t want to be a jerk and ignore them. So… I don’t know. I’ve been blessed with really secure friends and those awkward situations have been few and far between.

So it was angering to me to see these “women” on freaking TELEVISION having a pity party about their looks and just being so pathetic! If that damn show had been scripted a more stereotypical scene of women sitting around bitching about “the things that women bitch about” could not have been more perfect. It made me embarrassed to be a woman.

One of the girls spoke up, as I reached my saturation point of disgust, and even noted how pathetic their conversation was becoming. She started to communicate with the others that they, and all women, should really love their bodies. And here I’m thinking, yes! Thank you! Redeem yourself! And in the very next sentence she said, “I’d trade my body for any one of yours in a heartbeat.” NO!!!!! That is the fucking opposite of what you had just said! That one totally sane thing that you have probably EVER said. And you went and canceled that out.

And do you know what started the whole pathetic, whiny-woman body issue conversation? Well, apparently one of the girls made a comment about how she wanted to model for Playboy and one of the boys in the house said, “you’re not skinny enough.” To which, later, she admitted that he was right, but that even though he was right, he just shouldn’t have said that. That statement that was, admittedly, right.

My brain twisted into a pretzel of confusion and outrage and I thought my head was going to explode. My reaction, of course, was to Twitter my total disgust, but what I felt while watching it couldn’t be contained within 140 characters so here I blog.

I feel like we’ll be starring in our own “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” movie, JTT style.

Though we’ve made this road trip several times together over the years, this one is going to be a little different.

* We’re bringing BOTH the dogs this time. Usually we only take Jackson who is a wonderful little traveler. Not sure how Peezu’s gonna fair, but we’ll soon find out.

* It’s the first time we’re taking a car other than Aaron’s Camry. Aaron’s car is a stick-shift. I don’t drive stick. I’ve tried and I just end up having major anxiety attacks. This has made for many a fight on our road trips. I keep promising every year to get over the fear that I’m going to cause his car to explode and help drive, but then I always freak out and end up a sobbing mess on the side of the road. Poor Aaron.

Well this year my dad offered us his Civic Hybrid and it’s an automatic! Which means we both get to pitch in. I’m happy about this.

* This is the first year (for me) that we are actually going to go to his folk’s house ON Christmas. Which means, this is the first year that I will be away from my family on Christmas. No opening presents in their living room in front of a fire. No stockings that my mother needlepointed. No Nat King Cole Christmas music blaring on speakers all over the house. No Boston Terrier dog drowning in ribbons. No trading gifts with my sister. No coffee and hot chocolate on a tray in Christmas mugs while we open presents. For the first time ever. Weird.

Luckily my family has all decided to head to San Francisco to watch the USC bowl game this year, so I won’t feel like they’re doing all that without me. AND I love my in-laws so much that I know I’m going to be just as happy and comfy and Christmas-y.

* And this is the first year we’re leaving in the cover of darkness, which worries me. But I’m sure we’ll be fine.

Well, on that note, I should really finish getting everything ready to go.

Happy Holidays my lovely readers… all 5 of you.

Merry Christmas, love the Finleys

courtney: i wanna watch star trek now
me: oh NOW you wanna watch it!
courtney: haha not really
i just wanna see the hot guy again
me: ha
you mean “guyS”
courtney: NOT SPOCK
me: damn

So what, I’m a hopeless nerd who loves nerds.