• Graham, Texas
• Euless, Texas
• Kress, Texas
• Lubbock, Texas
• Throckmorton, Texas
• Sulphur Springs, Texas
• Austin, Texas
• Washington, D.C.
• Annapolis, Maryland

• artistic expression and creativity
• family
• finding new places (travel)
• my faith and beliefs
• the knowledge that comes with reading books
• honesty
• finding new adventures
• self-improvement
• friendships (the kinds that last)
• too many transient things (i.e. beauty - but how can I not, as an artist?)
• late night discussions
• memories

• that when facing a dilemma, the next song played on the radio would tell me what to do (I think I broke up with a 7th grade boyfriend because of this theory. Sorry Shea)
• every thing my Dad would tell me about how my life would be
• Abercrombie and Fitch was evil
• I would marry one of these boys: Taylor Hanson or J.T.T.
• my musical talent would be 'discovered' if I sang in public places
• people cared as much about what I was doing as I did
• I would marry a person of Mexican, Italian or Spanish descent
• that I would die before I graduated high school
• that I would die before I graduated college (I have a hard time picturing the unknown)

• Anchorage, Alaska - I love this city. It's urban, and the typography I saw on the buildings, in the businesses, on the printed materials- amazing! The colors of the town were fresh and clean. I would live here .
• Bat cave in the Dominican Republic - crawling with cockroaches, spiders and other various insects. Picture the scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as he's in the tunnel connected to his bedroom and you have the general idea. The floor, carpeted in bugs, was constantly shifting and moving like waves over itself. Fascinating how I loved this but cannot stand a spider in my bedroom or the drone of a single mosquito while I try to sleep.
• California - I drove there (from Abilene) with my two roommates, Megan and Kristen, during spring break of our junior year (2007). I hated L.A.
• D
• Ellie's Treehouse - my first exposure to real tree-house f...

• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
• Rebecca (1940)
• Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
• The Truth about Cats and Dogs (1996)
• The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

• 23 - number of miles I've biked since last Sunday
• 6 - number of days since I've seen Koby and number of days until I see him again
• 5 - number of piercings I have
• 1 - number of tattoos I have
• ? - number of times I have dyed my hair/numbers of colors my hair has been
• 4 - number of times I have permed my hair
  • 2 - curly
  • 2 - straight
• 0 - number of times I will ever perm my hair again
• 60 - number of inches that measure my length (height)
• 4 - number of states I have lived in
• 4 - number of dogs my family and/or I have owned
  • Toto the Schnauzer

• taking out the recyling
• making tea
• exercise, of any kind
• waking up in the morning
• walking Sophie
• being pleasant at work
• (nevermind, I take that last one back)
• going out of my way to help others. really out of the way.
• working hard at things I think I'm talented in (because it's so much easier to slack)
• my figure
• pretty people

• Unicorn-Collecting
  • This included figurines, books, pictures, etc. This little treasure of a hobby lasted until about 6th grade. Maybe 7th. Should this also be under 'Embarassing Behaviors'?
• Maze-Creating
  • This was a useful way to kill time using graph paper in junior high, and was probably the best thing that ever came out of me in math class.
• List-making
  • Still a tried-and-true favorite. Probably began about the time I could write. Notable lists include: the one I made at the approximate age of 8 while on vacation in Florida that mapped out the rest of my life (according to it, I'm fairly behind...

• April 29, 1999 - My best friend forgot to tell me Happy Birthday.
• April 29, 2000 - After having been told a few months earlier that our family would be moving to Texas, I was still devastated. My parents were out of town on my 14th birthday to check out what would be our new neighborhood. They called and told me my present was that they had decided to put in a family pool. This did not however carry over into any other family members' birthdays.
• April 29, 2003 - My friends and I had planned a birthday dinner downtown Austin after my Life Drawing class at Laguna Gloria. After I got out of class, I found out that all my friends had decided they didn't want to come all the way downtown, they wanted me to meet them at Sonic instead. I didn't discover this though until I got lost for an hour in city constructio...

• seeing Koby
• recycling
• a good font
• lists
• Sophie sometimes
• Sundays
• a sun tan
• paychecks
• clothing sales
• garage sales
• thunderstorms
• fireworks
• book clubs
• completing to-do lists
• vacations
• new places
• seasons in general
• my green bathroom
• drawing
• crafts
• cameras

• Washington National Monument
• Lincoln Memorial
• Jefferson Memorial
• Korean War Memorial
• FDR Memorial
• White House
• The Mall and Reflecting Pool
  • where we ate a nice lunch with a rabid squirrel
• Mr. Smith's, Georgetown
  • self-proclaimed 'friendliest saloon'
• Book Hill Park, Georgetown
• Mie N Yu, Georgetown
  • HIGHLY recommended, please go dine there
• Third Edition, Georgetown
• two more places I can't recall the names of at the moment
• Hantler's, Annapolis Maryland

• The Clothes There are always items in my closet that still have the tags on them. I can't stop buying clothes. You should know I don't even remotely have the money to do this, but every time a 'worthy event' comes along, I feel like I should be ripping tags off new purchases when getting ready. Disgusting.
• The Munchies If I haven't eaten in 30 minutes, there's a good chance I want to eat again. Case in point: I just stuffed my purse with candy and junk food from the Club, 'just in case' I get hungry on the way home. Or right now...
• The Guilt I constantly replay bad things I've done over in my head (this doesn't count things like The Munchies). It's very unhealthy. I've already seen someone about it.
• The Foot in Mouth Pretty self-explanatory. This includes verbal conversations, comments, text messages, journal entries, Facebook posts and...

• if people are anything like me, it's a lot easier to say "I have an addictive personality" than it is to exercise self-control
• I could be a great deal less self-righteous
• working isn't so bad
• school is getting old
• gaucho pants weren't as great as I thought they were
• I like Sophie the way she is
• it's not as fun to stay up late
• it's nice to wake up before noon
• I care about making money more than I always thought I would
• I suffer/survive from incredible delusions
• I should have picked a different major
• I've forgotten how to interact with children
• I'm ready to grow up

The Beautiful and Damned F.Scott Fitzgerald Why I find Fitzgerald to be beautiful but so generally sad:

• on relative beauty "He felt persistently that the girl was beautiful - then of a sudden he understood: it was her distance, not a rare and precious distance of soul but still distance, if only in terrestrial yards."
• DICK: Art isn't meaningless. MAURY: It is in itself. It isn't in that it tries to make life less so.
• BEAUTY: (With a faint laugh which disturbs only momentarily the immobility of her lips) And will I like being a jazz-baby? THE VOICE: (Soberly) You will love it...
• "'...you don't think the artist works from his intelligence?' 'No. He goes on improving, if he can, what he imitates in the way of style, and choosing from his own interpretation of the things around him what constitutes material.'"

• lying down on the kitchen floor, Mom was making homemade meatballs (my favorite) but it was taking so long I thought I might never eat again : Missouri, aged 4-6?
• in my bunk at Ft. Hill Summer Camp: Ohio, aged 8-10?
• on the front porch of my best friend's house as her mother opened the door, right after I found out I was moving to Texas: Ohio, aged 13
• in my shower at the Tanglewood house after giving our dachshund Torpedo away: Ohio, aged 13
• outside the field house after being told I would not be moving up to Varsity my sophomore year (softball): Texas, aged 15
• seeing all my stuff piled up in the center of the game room before moving to college, and crying in Mom's lap: Texas, aged 18
• at my friend Neal's funeral: Texas, aged ...

• I had originally titled this list 'QUiRKS' but I was bothered by the way it looked, so I had to change it
• when buying books/magazines, I scour through each one until I find the least smudged or bent item. I purchase this item
• spelling errors make me feel like a bad person
• I drink my milk with lots of ice
• I eat the lemons I use to flavor my drinks
• I don't like my door to my room to be open while I am sleeping
• I cannot wear tennis shoes with jeans. (Or I'll be in a bad mood.)
• I struggle with keeping my room clean because once there is an effort made for it to be clean, I want it to be ultra clean. I cannot find a happy medium.
• I began speaking in text as a joke (BRB, LOL) but now I cannot stop (OMG!)
• I don't like my wet hair to touch me afte...

• watched the old Star Wars trilogy
• made a to-do list and never crossed anything off
• told Sophie "NO!"
• said to Koby, "I love you!"
• forgot to return a library book/rented movie
• forgot my grocery list on a trip to the store
• forgot to apply sunscreen
• thought 'I should go work out' only to have a snack instead
• slept past noon
• stayed up past midnight
• got angry with my sister
• felt inferior as a designer, artist, human...
• guilted myself into doing something I didn't want to do
• worried myself sick at night about things beyond my control

• April 24 (Val's lingerie party)
• May 2 (Candace's lingerie party)
• May 23 (Justin and Le'Ann's wedding, Abilene)
  • could not attend
• May 24 (Michael and Kristen's one year anniversary)
• May 30 (Andrew and Valerie's wedding, Sulphur Spgs.)
• June 6 (Cam and Kelsey's wedding, Buffalo Gap)
• June 20 (Josh and Amy's wedding, Abilene)
• August 1 (Candace and Layne's reception, Sulphur Spgs.)
• August 8 (Tim and Leah's wedding, Austin)
• August 16 (Bo and Marie's one year anniversary)

• her ridiculous obsession with her rock tumbler
• Dad driving us around in the car, persuading Melissa to hang out the sun roof, waving her arms and yelling for some odd reason "Welcome to America!"
• sitting around in the hot tub as it snowed, Dad daring us to run barefoot across the backyard, all the way to the pine tree and back. Melissa was the first to do it.
• Melissa's sound victory over Dad in a race while on a vacation in Hawaii. Dad faked an injury/fall to save himself the defeat.
• tricking Melissa into believing that we were genies. When I told her the truth, she cried.
• always plotting how we could get a new pet
• sneaking out of our hotel in Spain, calli...

• join the Peace Corps
• actually, just regularly volunteer anywhere. Beginning in Abilene.
• revisit the Dominican Republic
  • complete with bat cave excursion
  • make sure Wesley is there and this time, don't suck at the surfing lessons
  • beach campfire
• hail a cab in NYC
• paint in Italy
• become a good cook
• buy an old house that has two stories, a big backyard and a basement
• ride in a hot air balloon
• revisit London and this time, know which buildings you are looking at
• revisit Africa. Any part.
• live in a country where the primary language isn't English.
• finish writing my stand-up routine

In chronological order:

• Waitress (Cafe Lago, Austin)
• Graphic Designer (Abilene Christian University, Distance Education Dept.)
• Graphic Designer (Abilene Christian University, FilmFest 06, 07)
• Beer Cart Girl (Abilene Country Club)
• Receptionist (Abilene Country Club)
• Graphic Designer (Abilene Country Club)
• Graphic Designer (freelance, self)
• Hostess (Carino's Italian, Abilene)

Here's how you'll know it's Christie Thomas:

• I have a scar above my right eye, precisely where the skin is elevated because of the eye socket. I ran into something as a child, and voila.
• I have a freckle underneath the ring finger equivalent of my right toe. It's fairly large, you won't miss it.
• You'll notice that I have perfect feet, if I say so myself. (So hopefully I wasn't in a foot-mangling accident.)
• Oh here's an obvious one: I have a tattoo of a bird (very abstracted) on my left inner ankle. The wing circles the 'knob' of my ankle (wasn't really sure how else to say that...)
• My teeth are crooked.
• My eyeballs will probably have contacts on them.
• I have a freckle on my butt. (This is as...

• Carmex SPF 15 CHERRY flavored lip balm. The little pot kind, not the stick
• Clinique lipstick, Black Honey
• Clinique Perfectly Real Makeup, Shade 08 (N)
• Jelly Belly chapstick, Very Cherry
• a nerd stick (thumb drive)
• Canon Powershot SD750
• wallet
• iPhone
• iPhone ear phones
• my key ring with too many keys
• Ocean Potion 'Xtreme Tanning Xcelerator Spray Gel'
• Trident gum, Original
• Hobo credit card holder
• one bottle of Equate brand Ibuprofen
• a dime I found on the road
• clicky pen
• sunglasses case from the Dollar Tree
• sunglasses from the Dollar Tree

I may even take some of these listed items to an extreme, pious disliking. Bear with me if I preach.

• Celebrity gossip - why invest in something you have no control over? WHO CARES?! They are not your friends, family or even acquaintances. Live your own life and stop ogling the kids at the popular table.
• Reality TV - biggest hates: Real Housewives of Orange County (these women infuriate me); Bad Girls Club (dis.gus.ting.); and basically most programs on MTV
• Radical Political Views - of either/any side. Perhaps 'radical' isn't the right word. What I am immediately turned off by is any person prattling on and trying to argue/convince me of some belief they have as if my mere existence prompts an excuse for heated debate. I will often feign an opposing side just to irritate this person.
• Leagues - as in 'she's out of my league'. This ...

Working in an office over the past year, I've amused myself by recording the interesting names I stumble upon, and here are my favorites:

• Betty Bacon
• the Barefoots
• the Bilbos
• Winnie Byrd
• the Ceniglis'
• the Cronks
• Donald McDonald
• three children named Dubya, Dimple, and (less interestingly) DJ
• the Fakhourys
• the Fillingims
• the Fooshees
• the Fulenwiders
• the Funks
• Bobbie Gee (I had a friend we called Bobby G. and so I laugh when I see this name)

I've always thought things are 90% better if people will just acknowledge them. Like, "I'm a b*tch" or "I'm stupid" or "I'm addicted"...

So here are things I admit.

• I take an embarrassing amount of pictures of myself because
  • 1. it's better than a mirror and
  • 2. I'm still fascinated by the idea of a camera
• One of the things I document (or have lately) is outfits I like. If I'm not going somewhere that lends easily to a picture-taking session, I'll document the outfit myself. I call these shoots 'mini-modeling'. And yeah, I even pose.
• I gave up diet beverages to tan, rationalizing that giving up one semi-addictive behavior that is bad for my health balanced out adding a new one.

May 9, 2009

• the fact that DBaby took Big to his graduation lunch/picnic with his family
• the fact that I forced Big to borrow my camera so she could document the event
• my new denim vest
• iced green tea with two lemon wedges and one pack of Splenda
• www.listography.com
• https://www.27bslash6.com
• https://www.remka.net
• http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/li...
• owls
• the idea of summer
• Koby on the road home from Sweetwater
• Sundance Jewelry: specifically, pearl rings
• CCBC

May 11, 2009

• diet A&W root beer

The dictionary says that a VICE is an immoral or evil habit or practice. Here are mine:

• vanity: tanning
• overindulgence (candy, various imbibements, meatballs, CHIPS AND SALSAS etc.)
• deceit: hacking, sneaking
• greed: sales at Dillard's
• greed: $5 movie bin @ WalMart
• vanity: diet beverages
• filth: cursing
• greed: the dress racks @ Ross

• believer (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit)
• honest
• artsy
• restless
• insatiable
• loved
• impatient
• nerd
• loyal
• usually hungry
• painter
• devoted
• interested
• old (enough to know better)

but not

• fearless
• workaholic
• old (enough to care)
• reckless
• vegetarian