Shamelessly stealing surveys

I stole this from Patrick , who got the questions from his friend. I don't know where she got them. I hope she came up with them on her own, because they're pretty great.

1. Your full name:

Jobetta Pauline Hedelman

2. What your Native American name would have been if you were in Dances With Wolves:

Watches TV with Cats

3. Your birthday:

Sept. 24

4. Name of a famous person who shares your birthday:

Jim Henson

5. What is the best thing you can do with your hands?

If I told you that, I'd have to kill you.

6. What is the worst thing you’ve done to someone?

See answer to #5

7. What is an evil thing you’d like to do to someone (enemy, Tom Cruise, Accounting Dept., etc.)?

I'd like to take away all of a certain wealthy president's money, give him three little kids and force him to spend the rest of his life working two minimum-wage jobs only to find out he still can't afford health insurance for the kids and has to choose between buying food and paying the electric bill.

8. What is the stupidest movie you’ve ever seen?

Fantastic Four.

9. Have you ever cheated?

Not on anything important. But I'm sure I copied people's worksheets in middle school. Stupid busy work anyway.

10. Have you ever been cheated on?

Nope. Part of the advantage of never having been in an exclusive relationship is that there's no cheating involved.

11. Have you ever discovered a dead body while hiking?

Dead birds ....

12. If you ever did discover a dead body while hiking, would you take anything off the body (jewelry, loose change, sunglasses, etc)?

That would require touching the dead body. That's gross.

13. Do you ever talk to the TV?

Oh yeah. CNN gets the brunt of my ranting.

14. Does the TV ever reply?

No. The idiots continue being pathetically stupid. Such is my life.

15. What is your marital status?

Unless there's something I don't remember, I'm very much unmarried.

16. Would you recommend that status to a friend?

Sure, I guess. There's nothing inherently wrong with not being married.

17. How about to an enemy?

Definitely. My enemies don't need to procreate. They should be single and abstinent.

18. Have you ever hit a parked car and failed to leave a note?

Not that I remember.

19. Has someone done it to you?

I've had dings in my door but never any real damage.

20. Have you ever consumed an entire pie in one sitting?

Probably.

21. Name a fictional Olympic sport that you would win:

Advanced DVR races. The most shows watched in a single 24-hour period wins. Bonus points for the amount of chocolate consumed.

22. Do you believe in the death sentence?

I believe in the lethal power of the semi-colon, but so far I know of no complete sentence that has killed someone.

23. Do you believe in Santa?

Of course. He went to my church when I was a kid. Nice guy.

24. Do you believe in God?

Yes, but it's complicated.

25. Do you have neighbors you can’t stand?

I don't know my neighbors. The guy across the hall is kinda cute, though.

26. Are you the neighbor people can’t stand?

Probably.

27. In your opinion, what’s the best thing to make out of leather?
A) Furniture, B) pants, C) purses, D) “toys.”

I don't even know what "toys" means, and I try to avoid buying things made from real leather, but I'll say purses. Because I like purses.

28. Have you ever been arrested?

Nope.

29. If yes, did the charges stick?



30. If you are in a public bathroom with five stalls and someone is in stall #1 and someone else is in stall #5, which is the correct stall for you to use?

The one that is not out of toilet paper.

The cutest dog on Earth

I haven't seem my parents' dog since January (they got him at Christmas). When I visited this weekend for my best friend's wedding (more on that another day), he was thrilled to see me. He spins around in circles and jumps when he's excited, which happened every time I woke up, entered a room after being gone for more than two minutes or called his name. It was quite good for my self-esteem to have someone be that happy just because I was awake. I realize it's somewhat sad that a dog's reaction to me improved my self-worth, but it was fucking adorable.

I mean, look at this face.

Woah. Responsibility.

As if earning a master's degree and finding a job that puts me in a tax bracket that may require me to understand terms like "itemized deduction," weren't enough, I now have a VERY adult responsibility. An actual new car, with a real loan. With quite a bit of help from my grandfather (who LOVES to help people shop for cars online), who found a dealership and told me what kind of car he thought would work for me, I bought myself a brand-new Chevy Aveo (the hatchback model) And when I say new, I mean new. A comparison: When I parked at the dealership, my old car had 247,006 miles. I left in a new car that had 36 miles. The entire process was interesting, but way too time consuming.

The first car I looked at cost about $3,000 more than I wanted to pay (actually, I test-drove two, but the second one I drove was way more expensive, so I only asked seriously about one) -- in the most cliched move EVER, the salesman made a big show of writing down the price and terms on a piece of paper, then sliding it across the table to me. That's when I said "Well ... I like the look of this model better, but I'd be much happier with the number on the other model. Why don't I test drive that?" He tried to talk me out of it, but I took the other one out anyway. And I'm glad I did, because I loved it. The first car I drove, I could have lived with, but I really loved the second one.

The negotiations were also helped by my grandfather, who called me in the morning before I went to the dealership and told me about some great deal he found down in the Bay Area and he would pay cash for that car and have me pay him back, but it would have to be delivered. This was not a scenario either of us really wanted, but he suggested using it as leverage. So I did. That little game, plus my time on debate team probably helped quite a bit. I was laughing inside at how cliched the entire process was. "Well, I really want your business, and I want to take care of you, so if I can get that number down, can I get you to drive away in this car?"

When I decided on the specific car, again with the total "salesman" move, "You're going to love me," he pushes a piece of paper across the table with the price on it. I agreed to the total price and thus began THREE HOURS of waiting around to talk to the finance guy, then sitting there while he did something that eventually got me a much better APR without me having to ask for it. Quite a bit of the finance guy trying to talk me into these extra deals they have and doing a lot of "let me ask my boss if I can do this for you ..." that just seemed a little too staged in a "I'll pretend that I'm only doing this to be nice to YOU, but really, it's what I do for everyone so they'll think better of the dealership" sort of way. All of the men who helped me were very nice, though, and I would recommend the dealership. Seriously, if I do and you buy a car they'll give me $200. If you live near Seattle, ask me about it.

All things considered, though, I think I handled things very well. It was great to have my grandfather's help because he'd personally talked to the salesman before I came down and told him what I wanted/needed, and he made me promise not to buy anything without asking him if he thought the price was a good deal (he told me I did "very well" when I told him the final terms). It was awesome to have that to throw into the conversation, but I do think that I negotiated better than I thought I would. I'm quite proud of myself.

Anyway, I'm now a very happy owner of a car I like very much. I gave up on a couple of extras (AC and a stereo with an iPod hookup) to get the price I wanted, but I love the car. I must admit, though, that it's kind of sad to part with the old one. They couldn't take it as a trade-in (I didn't expect one) because it's in my parents' name and we lost the title. So they're holding on to it for me until I can find the title and donate it. Yes, it was very old and getting to be rather unreliable and scary to drive through the mountains, but I've been riding in/driving that car forever. It's an '89 that my parents got when it was about two years old. There have been many fun road trips with my dad in that car. I learned to drive in that car. All it's little quirks and the need to explain to all my friends and mechanics how to use the car really gave it some personality. I laughed at it, but really, it was a pretty good car. Driving that car was like having a friend who you disagree with about everything but keep around because fighting is so fun. I felt a little guilty driving away from it, leaving it sitting there looking so sad and alone.

The joys of cat ownership

I think the guy who does these awesome cat cartoons on YouTube has a surveillance camera inside my apartment. Here's his latest . The difference is, with my cat, it's 7 a.m. and his food dish is entirely full, he just wants to go outside before it gets hot out.

My cat is very sweet in the daytime and I love him when he's not waking me up. But this photo is why I have this cat. About five years ago, I went out into the parking lot of my new apartment building and heard mewing from behind a bush. Upon investigation, this let me pick him up and purred, and I couldn't not take him home. What was I supposed to do?

My childhood dream

I have a confession.

Most of you know this about me, but if you didn't, here goes:

I love the New Kids On The Block. I loved them when I was a kid (some might use the word "obsession") and then grew out of it and stopped listening to their music for about 10 years until one day, in a fit of nostalgia, I bought their "Greatest Hits" CD. I listened to it only in secret when no one else could hear me, but I enjoyed it. I didn't admit this to many people, and I may or may not have occasionally used Google to see what my childhood crushes were up to.

Fast forward to earlier this year when the news came out that the group is reuniting. At first, I thought "Ok ... interesting" and then I found out they were touring. My friend Katie, (who now goes by Kat, but who was Katie when we met) called and said "Dude, we HAVE to go to a New Kids concert." Katie and I know each other because of this group. In 1991, I went to summer camp and met a very cool girl -- Katie -- who had been to a New Kids concert in Reno. My best friend Sara had actually been to the same show, so I knew some details about it. Katie and I bonded over our love for the group — she wanted to marry Jordan Knight and I was madly in love with his brother, Jonathan -- and 17 years, some high school rebellion coupled with grunge/punk/rap phases and several interesting relationship/career/geographic moves later, we're still very close friends. How could I not take her up on this suggestion?

The truth is that the one thing I was still sad about regarding my childhood is that I never saw a New Kids concert. I loved them so much and expended so much energy professing my love (and a lot of stamps mailing every member letters on his birthday), that it didn't seem right that I never saw a show. So when I found out they were coming to the Northwest, I knew we had to go. It's partly nostalgia, it's partly that it's something my friend and I will always have in common, and it's partly how damn catchy the group's new single is, but I was thrilled. I bought pretty good tickets (I did not know about the possibility of spending hundreds of dollars to sit close to the stage and have backstage passes, which is probably a good thing) and treated Katie to a ticket for her birthday. We're taking her best friend. On November 23, we will be in Portland, cheering on our childhood idols. I got myself a T-shirt on eBay and there are plans to make large, brightly-colored signs. Neon paint and glow sticks may or may not be involved in this plan.

I've been trying to hide it, but I don't care. After buying the show tickets, I managed to acquire the rest of their albums on iTunes and through another friend, and I will be honest -- I'm loving hearing the music again. There are some songs I don't like now, and others that I'd forgotten about that are really quite good. I love all the ballads and the cheesy late '80s/early '90s beats are perfect for the pace of my workouts.

I've been attempting to deny this, or to pretend to be embarrassed about my re-love for this group, but I'm going to be honest. I still love them and I don't care who knows it. I won't be plastering my walls with posters again, and my propensity to argue to the point of being punished with anyone who dares criticize the group is long-gone, but I am still loving the music and am thrilled about this concert. I'm every bit as excited as I would have been at 10 years old, but in a calm, collected, grown-up sort of way.

And because I can't resist, this photo reminds me of why I liked Jonathan Knight so much. What a killer smile ...

I'm a grownup

A month too late, I figured I should write about graduation. I got a weekend off work to go down to Eugene to pick up my master's degree -- rather, to walk in the ceremony and get my diploma holder -- more than a month later I still don't have the actual diploma. The trip involved a lot of driving (about a third of which was through the beautiful Columbia Gorge) and after I came back I needed a vacation to recover from my "time off," but it was nice to see some of my friends again and it felt great to get to have my "hood" put on in front of the big crowd at Mac Court. The ceremony itself was pretty standard graduation stuff -- it was just the departmental one, so there wasn't really a speaker, but they gave out a few awards (I didn't get any) and then went through the graduate students and then hundreds of undergrads while those of us who had already gone sat there starving (or, while I sat there starving because the bakery I tried to go to for breakfast wasn't open when I got there and I had therefore not eaten anything). Sadly, I didn't get many pictures -- my parents aren't the type to run up in front of everyone and take a picture of their kid -- so all I have is the photo they took of the big screen and the professional one taken by the company the school hired. It's funny. I'm the type to bring my camera to events and take a million pictures of all my friends, but I never make people take pictures of me at my own big events. I don't have nearly enough photos of me after my hood was put on, and I can't pose for any fake ones because the robe was only a rental. My parents had my camera so I didn't get any pictures with my friends except the one Matt took (see below).



My parents and brother came up to Eugene (rather, my parents came up -- my brother lives there) and went to the graduation and then had to get back rather quickly, so I spent the day after the ceremony with my friend Anna, her husband Josh, and their awesome kid, Avery. He's two and is quite the little genius, obsessed with the alphabet. That's a little copy editor in training. I got to read him the book I bought for his birthday, which was the week before. I hadn't seen the book since I bought it online and had it shipped right to him. The book uses the letters of his name and has a little poem about the other words you can make with those letters ("A is for apple, V is for victory," that kind of thing). I miss hanging out with that family. I can't wait for them to find time to come visit me (hint hint).

Stopping to enjoy some music

When I lived in Washington, D.C., last summer, one of the things I loved was hearing all the street musicians who would perform in or near the Metro stations. I love music and wish I had the nerve or talent to perform in public like that. I have nothing but respect for other musicians and some incredibly talented people played right there on the street. It helps that my favorite musical group, The Coats , got their start singing on the street corner in Seattle.

I didn't always give money to the performers in DC, although I wanted to — I simply don't carry cash and rarely have so much as a quarter on me — but I tried to stop and listen. The first night I was there, while waiting to meet a friend outside the China Town stop, a young man played the saxophone. Another time, just a few blocks away, a man played a brilliant percussion routine on buckets and pots and pans. The effort left him soaked in sweat and drew a large crowd — I was told he played there regularly.

Several times a week until the day the Metro cops chased them away, a group of four men sang old Motown standards A Cappella late at night.

Of course, I was always traveling on the Metro on weekends or at times of the day when people are in less of a rush, but at least a few people stopped for the musicians I saw.

Today, I found a link to a story about what happens when a world-class musician plays in the station during the morning rush hour . The Pulitzer-winning article by Gene Weingarten appeared in the Washington Post Magazine in April 2007. For the article, Weingarten convinced Joshua Bell, a world-class violinist who people pay hundreds of dollars to see, to play inside the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station at rush hour. They discovered that very few people would stop, even for one of the most talented musicians in the world, playing some of the most beautiful music ever written on one of the best instruments ever made (a Stradivarius violin). It's a wonderful article and made me quite sad. Perhaps growing up in the leisurely pace of the Northwest has made me more willing to take time to stop and enjoy the good things in life, or perhaps my own musical training makes me feel compelled to stop and acknowledge when someone is really talented or even when they're not, but are putting themselves out there for the world to judge. Read this article and play the clips — at the end there's one that lets you listen to the entire performance, which you should do. How anyone can hear something that beautiful and not stop, even for a minute, astounds me. I highly recommend taking time out of your day to listen to the clip of Bell playing. The music is just exquisite. Music that beautiful always makes me tear up, and the idea that people could just pass by amazes me. Anything even close to this makes me freeze in my tracks, almost physically unable to keep walking.

It should be said that I found this via a Poynter link to another column in which Weingarten writes that after receiving the Pulitzer for his "original" work, he discovered that a Chicago newspaper had tried the same "stunt" in the '30s, also with a world-class musician. The second Weingarten column is also interesting, but more from a journalistic standpoint.

R.I.P. George Carlin

Coming soon: An update on how things are going in the new town and a post about graduation. But first, I give you George Carlin. I was going to post the "7 Dirty Words" bit, but I found this via The Oregon Commentator and really enjoyed it. If you are my grandma or any other person who may be offended by words that can't be said on TV, please don't watch this. And grandma, if you are reading this, I will post about graduation soon, I promise.

VOTE TODAY

Hey all you Oregonians!

Today's primary election is one of the first time in history that Oregon's primary has really been a topic of discussion on the national level or has really made any difference in the outcome (at least, for the Democrats). So if you haven't turned in your ballot yet, get it in! The one Republican I know who might read this should vote too, although I'm sure you will.

Day Two

Today was much better than yesterday. Last night, around 2, I finally tried to pump up my air mattress and it worked, so I actually had a bed. I only got a few hours of sleep because the movers were supposed to come at 7:30 -- they got here at 9:30. Something about bad traffic at the truck stop. But all my stuff was here and they were very nice. One of them lives here so he gave me his number in case I need to hire someone to move me to the other apartment in two weeks. I'm thinking of asking the apartment complex to pay for it, rather than their idea of getting the maintenance guys to help. Somehow, I would feel more vindicated that way. Plus, the guy was nice, fast and professional, so it seems like a good option.

After they left, I wanted to go back to sleep, but instead decided to brave the heat (about 95 degrees) and go to the grocery store. I realized pretty quickly that my desire to wait as long as possible to buy a new car may be overshadowed by my desire to drive a car with air conditioning. I forget how much you spend just buying the "basics" on a first grocery run. More than $100 and I didn't even remember to get salt. Must remember to find a cheaper store than Fred Meyer for non-organic stuff.

I spent most of the day buming around the apartment. The huge pile of boxes that can't be unpacked until I move again will irritate me, but at least my kitchen and bathroom are set up now. I cooked dinner (vegan chili) and dessert (vegan chocolate cupcakes with delicious frosting) and used my new Dyson vacuum, which really is awesome. It got all the cat hair off the sofa and a bunch off the floor that I didn't even know was there. It's already worth every penny. I'm so not a person who likes to clean, but I bought this specifically for the cat hair problem, so it's great. I think I may take it to my mattress, too, but I'm not sure I want to know how much dirt is on the mattress.

I'm discovering that this apartment was very clearly built for taller people. I can't reach the air conditioner dial, ceiling fan cord or peephole without a step stool. At this point in life, I am of course used to having issues, but I'd think they'd at least put the air conditioner where short people can use it.

Right now I'm sitting on my balcony listening to someone's wind chimes. Even with the mix-up, I do like the complex -- I think. It seems to be well-taken care of (although there is some graffiti on a tree outside my place that I don't think was there yesterday) and the private balcony is nice. I think the unit they're moving me to is on the ground floor, which is better because I can let the cat out, but not quite as nice. Of course, all the other buildings kind of face mine so people can see me out here, but it's closed in on the sides. It's cooled off very nicely and is quite peaceful. It may even get dark enough to see a lot of stars.

I realize I'm posting quite a bit on mundane things, but this is sort of an adventure for me. Also, until I meet some people, I have nothing to do in the evenings but sit around on the Internet. I'm posting this while watching TV shows online (my cable channels suck). Right now it's "Sex and the City" with subtitles in what appears to be Chinese.