I had nothing* to do with the making of this video.

How not to intercede from fbctlh on Vimeo.

*I may have had a little to do with it.

Something about a Rogue Sociologist

Every year August kicks me in the tail. Like some crazy whirlwind and I am left not knowing who I am or where I am. This year was no exception. Yet in the midst of the chaos, I received some fun news. Brace yourself for this people, it legitimizes me in my profession and, more importantly, it made the list.

#11 of 20: Got published.

Bam! Just like that, I am an author.  My high school English teacher is beyond proud. (I know this for a fact. She commented on my facebook status about it.)

Now before you start asking when the book signing at Borders will be, I must stop you. I wrote a lovely little book review of, well, a book that appeared in a professional journal. So, if you want to see my glorified book report on Gang Leader for a Day, grab your nearest copy of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition. And if you are looking for an interesting read, go grab yourself a copy of Sudhir Venkatesh's little treatise on gang life. 

Running out of time.

Someone buy me a new life.... *

Instead of blogging last week, I was...

Killing ants in my kitchen.

Watching water flow into my yard, compliments of a busted pipe, compliments of Brian.

Living without water in my house for 15 hours, compliments of Matthew.

Calling the City of Tallahassee.

Calling a plumber.

Throwing away an insane amount of dead yellow flowers, compliments of a wedding.

Killing ants in a bedroom.

Killing ants in the kitchen.

Afraid to go in the yard, compliments of the 3 foot snake.

Killing ants in another bedroom.

This is what I get for turning down the opportunity to live in a fancy schmancy guest house with stainless steel things and a pool and batting cages in a gated community. The kind of gated community that might cause Bravo to consider filming the Real Housewives of Tallahassee.

But, no, here I am. Keeping it real.

*Don't worry, I am actually completely satisfied with my life. But if you are interested, you could buy me some new fall boots. 

My sister got married last Saturday.

We did not. 

The stranger in my bed.

I am sooooo tired. A restless Saturday night has left me catching up on desperately chasing after lost sleep. Although, I will say, it might have been worth it. I can't believe I just said that. Because, all in all, it was absolutely terrible. And absolutely unplanned. Most definitely unplanned. But I did do something that I have have never done before. Thus, qualifying it to be on the list of 2010. I mean, how many people can say that they woke up with a scorpion in their bed?

Yes, your eyes did not deceive you.

#10 of 20: I got stung by a scorpion. In my bed.

And I am not just playing that whole fortune cookie "read your fortune out loud and follow it with 'in bed'" game. There actually was a scorpion in my bed. It stung me. That woke me up. I'm talking I went flying out of bed at 3am from the shock and the pain. And then I frantically shifted through my bed linens to find the little creature that was the source of my mind (and body) numbing pain. When I saw a scorpion lying on my duvet like it was no big deal, I nearly passed out. But nearly passing out is not enough to keep someone from grabbing a paper towel, grabbing the scorpion and flushing it down the toilet. So that is what I did. Had it not been 3am and had my hand and arm not been throbbing, I would have grabbed my camera and taken a picture of little Mr. Not welcome in my bed. I do have a blog, after all. But instead of taking a picture, I went with the whole flush down the toilet game plan and then I followed it up by googling "scorpion first aid". Turns out, all you can do it but ice on it and take an aspirin. So made a bag of ice and while I had my non-stung hand in the freezer, my mom (who is in town for my sister's wedding) cracks open the bedroom door* and then quickly closes it and goes back to bed. I started to cry. I was tired. In tremendous pain. I was sufficiently freaked out. AND my mom didn't love me enough to help. When she heard me crying, she came back to the living room. Her response to me telling her that I got stung by a scorpion was "There aren't scorpions in Florida."  Wrong. So wrong. There are indeed scorpions in Florida. There was one in my bed.

*She alleges that she thought someone was breaking in and when she saw that it was "just" me, she went back to bed.

Dobry Den

I know, I know. I am a bit late in posting. But in the epic battle of Meghan v. Jet Lag, jet lag won. Now that I feel like a relatively functioning human, here is a little update on the quest to complete 20 new things in 2010. My most recent addition:

#9 of 20: Check out what the fuss in Prague is all about.

And here are just a few things that I did in the Czech Republic. 

I taught this guy how to blow glass.

I went to Terezin. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. It still makes my heart hurt to think about it.

I ate gelato (a lot). I was on an endless quest for Nutella gelato. I failed.

I watched the World Cup. Here. Right in the middle of the Old Town Square.

I went to see Swan Lake. By myself. I am a really good date. I snapped a picture on my way. (Had to prove I was in Prague.)

This also proves that I was there. Just a little view from a castle. NBD.

And for the record, I still have not lived down the fact that while we were in the Tallahassee airport, I said, "I am so hot, I can't wait to get to Europe."  I was definitely referring to the scorching temps. Others thought I meant that my pilates class has been paying off....