Live, 1981

I'm piddling the day away. It has been very nice and warm in Atl today. Good day to be outside.

And two things came in the mail. Well, one in email form, but the other actual mail. The email was from GSU, announcing that (gasp!) I made the Dean's list. Being that I graduated in May, this is a good bit slower than a few years ago when they let me know (by mail) that I was accepted to the program three months after I was already taking classes. The other news is that I applied to take state certification exams for Social Work and Substance Abuse Counselor jobs, and received a notice that my education satisfies the counseling requirements, so all this time I've avoided applying to those positions b/c I'm not "certified"...blagh. BUT, that's good news. And means I'm on a LIST of a million other ppl who are qualified, and may be recruited to work for the GOV. ALLLLLrighty then.

hmmm...I just realized I haven't had coffee yet.

(panic)

"I have been called a Luddite"

I decided that when I finished the second page of subject data I would take a break and blog for petes sake.

To begin with, I wanted to make special note that this blogger is happy :) because I get to talk about a good book. weee! So, Kurt Vonnegut published yet another O-worthy piece, A Man WIthout A Country. Geez I luv him...a million other people do too I suppose. I saw it whilst shopping for other ppls presents in Borders bookstore, and it was like I momentarily became possessed by the book demons and had to have it, all 24 dollars worth..."well, it's a hardback" is how I justified it with my budget. And I like hardbacks, so what's the fuss. It's like that $1000 pair of diamond earrings that you'll "keep forever"...hahah. But anyway, my Platinum Visa can handle it. hah. So I bought it and read the whole thing in about 3hrs.

The winter season is here tomorrow! Officially, at least. But as far as I'm concerned its cold enough to be winter. I'm all hunkered into the SNL lab processing hours of mindnumbing data into their appropriate programs and not in the least excited about leaving b/c I dread the walk to Marta, and I dread the walk to my car, and I dread sitting in my car for the 2.7 minutes it takes to warm up. I also am royally procrastinating on getting my cell phone fixed. Sue me, but it's kindof nice to not have it, but I do need it from time to time....I feel like that person who sortof wants to quit smoking, so they stop buying cigarettes, and just occasionally bums a smoke off of someone else whenever they want one bad enough to actually be an inconvienience to your random joe.

Tonight will be my last night in town with company :( Rob left today, so I'll be holding down the fort until I begrudgingly drive home for the holidays on Friday with the rest of panic-stricken consumerist America. blagh.

Wah Wah! (that "Deb" is for you LAPO...I know you feel my pain..haha)

Now, back to the processors!

With love and good wishes to everyone, this is Rach signing off...for now

Tootle-oo!

MONDA(NE)Y

WAIT! I'm really going to post something good. But, right now I'm the blogging equivalent of a woman in a straitjacket.

Today, 5pm

Be there or...well...don't...I'll probably be late anyway (for those who know me)

hah

zygo mean corr RMS psychobabble

as I sit, being productive in the social neuroscience lab (that sounds so... smart..haha)...but being productive in here is just well. number crunching. but, number crunching with some pretty neat-o programs ya

today I FINALLY got a hook-up with Emory. I'd be one happy camper to work there. maybe even a happy camper with health insurance. health insurance and free/reduced services from one of the most prestigous universities/hospitals in the nation. now that's cool. but, no definits yet. I've been cursing Emory for a while now, and vanman says 'oh yea send this person an email with your resume'...and i go and check her out, and she's none other than...hmmm...his ex-wife. now i'm not sure if thats a good thing, or a really really bad thing. err.

pray for me folks, that if i at least get an interview i dont go in and say something stupid. wait. if you pray for a job, is that the devil? i mean, a job is for money, and money is the root of all evil. so, should we necessarily be praying for the root of all evil to fall into my hands.

ummm....what the heck. go for it. and i'll save all of you a spot ;) haha


filesaveasc:sub1124emg.xlsenterthankyoucomeagain

kempt, or unkempt

oh my. cbs at 1:30am is really...really...not...good.

and why exactly IS the standard 'snooze' always set for 9minutes? why 9? why not make it an even 10? i mean, it's totally ungratifying to hit the snooze and know that you only have 9 miutes...so instead of snoozing until 6 50, you only get to snooze until 649. errgh.

(ok really dont tell me why. i think i know. and even if i'm wrong, leave me with what little ego i've managed to scrape up off the highway to hell. thanks.)

did anyone know they still sold chia pets? i thought that went out with the 90s, but it turns out i was wrong! they now have scooby do


any minute now my kroger brand nighttime pain relief pills will kick in so i can go to bed so i can tear myself away from the most ridiculous shows on television. why am i even still watching? i think its because i wish we had IFC, and i keep flipping through the channels like its magically going to appear. its like going to the refridgerator to 'look' 2mins after you just opened it and couldn't find anything to eat....did anyone know that Oxygen goes soft porn after 1??

enough. i'm not that desperate. to bed i go.

ha

the undeniable joe

well, I saw IT too. in response to LAPOs recent commentary. Walk The Line is great flick...and contrary to appearances (as I dab the saliva away from the corners of my mouth) not just because of Joe-quinn. Also known as Wahkeen. haha. ok ok. Joaquin...I think that's how its spelled...but the movie is great. Sadly a short depition of Johnnys rather colorful life, making it pale somewhat to more extensive (tho also lacking) bio films like "Ray"...but, very good. And many props to Joaquin and Reese for doing all the vocals. That is damned impressive.

in tribute, a pic of a poster that once graced the walls of Kevin B. when he was also still earthbound...maybe he finally got the chance to meet The Man In Black.

I'll settle for a cup of coffee....

Last night Robin and I were discussing "Post Secrets"...the site where people have sent postcards to this guy with their deepest secrets on them. In a way, I'm impressed, I wish it was around years and years ago, I would have exploded his mail box. So we were talking about some of the things people have sent in, and I commented that some of it is so dark, that I can somewhat relate, but only if I journey back in time to when I was a very young and rather darkened teenager. Whew. What we were talking about is how some of it actually is a little offending (because it's not what we WANT to be made aware of) but very moving just the same. That was about it, and by then I was on my 3rd Stella Artois, and we all know about the third beer. no matter what kind you're drinking.

so. for the last three weeks I've been in or around Woodruff. traumatizing I might add. My grandmother is confined to Woodruff Manor for rehabilitation, so I had to go because no one else would or could go. I'd like to think that in a pinch I can be an okay granddaughter...and I officially won the martyr award for this one (haha) Spending THREE weeks in Woodruff for my grandmother, actually having to ENTER the town on a daily basis, and get out of my car, and walk into a building, in Woodruff. That is intense. Anyway, most of my time was spent at our house, unpacking boxes moved from my moms house in Columbus, and cleaning up...or trying to. That house is large and in charge when it comes to spider webs and dust. Lauren graciously helped me for an entire day AND housed me on several occasions in her magazine worthy residence. Talk about a friend! She is a huge help!

Now that I'm back, there is a relief effort going on to rid me of this home-boundness. The esteemed Dr.Vanman at GSU kindly reserved a part time 2month job for me...it sounds like I'm taking over all the work that the grad students normally do. Which is an honor to have him call me about the job. So my Chrismas is out, but I HAVE SOMETHING TO DO!!! (insert Hallelujah Chorus here)

well, I hope everyone is having a great day. It's super cool here...coat and hat and scarf and mittens

what a sad parade

I can't say that I love Jesus
That would be a hollow claim
He did make some observations
And I'm quoting them today
"Judge not lest ye be judged"
What a beautiful refrain
The studio audience disagrees
Have his lambs all gone astray?

Call me a leper

"You are lost and disillusioned!"
What an awful thing to say
I know this show doesn't flatter
It means nothing to me
I thought I might help them understand
But what an ugly thing to see
"I am not an animal"
subtitled under the screen

Call me a leper

When I tried to tell my story
They cut me off to take a break
I sat silent 5 commercials
I had nothing left to say
The talk show host was index-carded
All organized and blank
The other guests were scared and hardened
What a sad parade


____________________

when i was a high school senior, after my days of running track took one of the many pitiful places of my past, i discovered i was better at distance running--not award winning, but definitly better than i was at sprinting...i mean, who was i kidding, i am about as 'white' as they come....i do remember elisha martin kicked some ass though...she was awesome--anyway, New Adventures In Hi-Fi was the album that I would jog with...New Test Leper was the song that, after How the West Was Won set the pace, did some good maintenance for the remaining few miles. this is an awesome album. my favorite REM.


.your eyes are burning holes through me.

word to the weiz

carrot juice and herbal tea, for some reason, don't mix very well. just so you know.

we hear he is a whiz of a wiz if ever a wiz there was

so, back to the daily grind. the big city. the lights, the sirens, and of course, the people.

i sortof took a nice week long escape from the realities of atlanta living and vegged in the carolina wilderness that surrounds our upstate hacienda. mom, wayne, stefan and i were all there sharing the old house, and it was a good thing :) it was also great to see the family. everyone was in a good mood, or at least was doing a great job holding their tounge. some of our members are proudly up in their years, and i'm glad to have that gene run in the family! but elder age sometimes leads to being a bit more persnickity...so, i was happy that we were all able to have a nice time.

i've decided that after a week of complete and total meltdown of any previously established healthy eating routines i might have somewhat maintained throughout the year, that starting tomorrow (tues. b/c mondays are just horrible days to START anything on. i mean, you'd THINK they'd be great, they're convieniently at the START of a new week, but does anyone ever notice just how many people are late to work on monday? it seems a phenomenon...and no way to start anything important) so, tuesdays are my day for starting things. and tomorrow i'm beginning a 24hr "detox"...but wait, before you think i mean i'm going for a colon cleanse, i just mean more juice and water, and more whole food as opposed to thanksgiving turkey, dressing, and grrrrravvvy! woo....today i prepared by buying organic carrot juice (on sale at kroger), apple juice, orange juice, apples and a pomegranet

and organic chocolate...i'm saving it a reward. HAH.


i believe thats all folks! guuud nite!

so you think your family is dysfunctional eh?

My mother and aunt recently traveled to ElPaso, TX to visit their youngest sister Jackie a few weeks ago. As she always does, and as both of my parents have always done, she brought back presents. I'm not sure what she brought Stefan, but I was given the Catholic Rosary I've remarked a wish for at some point, and a switch plate for my bedroom light switch that was hand painted and decorated by a native of New Mexico...cool stuff, you know. Then she said my aunt Sheila had also sent me something, so I opened it to find a funky picture frame...black, with with polkadots and a little goofy lady standing at one side with a hat on, adorned with bright pink feathers. As weird as it sounds, it's actuallly kindof cute. The woman, whose legs make up the left support for the frame, is holding a sign that says "My Dysfunctional Family"...so of course I was required to grace it with a picture of non other than...well, my dysfunctional family.

And so I began perusing my stacks of photos. And all I can say for this is, a picture is worth a thousand words.





sortof scratchy from the scan, and should have been on this blog a month ago. yet, still stunningly hilarious. notice me in an elbow-lean on my dads head. his odd expression, and me, understandably confused at just who was standing beside me...

(back row from left: Uncle Buzz, Uncle Ricky, Nana and Papa; Second Row from left: Mom, Grandma Barnes, Suzanne Marie, Aunt Sheila; Third Row: Aunt Jackie, me (a really scary ballerina, wearing the tutu I put on everyday after school to dance to Mr.Rogers Neighborhood), Logan, Stefan(he always got to be the witch), and our dad in front...apparently as an albino tribesman, hence the faux tiger skin, and the hippie headband, appropriately stuffed with...rabbit fur?)

the perpetual learning of awareness

The weather reminds me that fall really is here, and the parking lots remind me of my first semester in college at USCS when the oak leaves would blow down and whisk around in the wind. So I've been in Atlanta, officially, for 2 years now. That seems like a long time for me, considering in the last 5 years the longest I've stayed in one city was about 2 years...and that was when I was living with my mama. Which, I might add, would be great right now. Aside from loving my mothers company, I enjoyed a rent-free, utility bill-free, and free grocery life. Why DID I move? oh yea. to get out of yet another small town atmosphere, to stretch my arms in a big city, to be on my own, and try my hand at starting my life. but so far I still depend on my mother....one day I'll be that self sufficient woman I aspire to be. Either that or I'll win the lotto. Get me the winning ticket Lauren!

now, I'm packing to return to South Carolina. This morning there was a segment on the morning show that touched on Elder Abuse, and it happens everywhere. And my grandmother is in a place where she doesn't need to be. It's difficult for me to feel responsible and helpless at the same time.

But if she ever wondering if I loved her, she has to know now that I do, because I have to enter the firey hell of Woodruff to visit her.

Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me.....I hope.

An obligatory blog.

ok. I get the feeling I should post something to prove I'm alive. I guess.

I have a lot of things I could rant and gripe about. Because today is not a good day. But I'm going to spare you all, even though I find online bitching to be highly therapeutic. And so you know that I'm working extra hard to be HAPPY. woo!

the dearest LAPO came to visit this weekend, which was grrrreat. Friday night Lauren, Rob, and I went to Ruby Tuesdays for margaritas and food, then returned to the hacienda for a game of "Scene It"(which I might add, I suck at) then Saturday Laur and I trekked to Stone Mountain. Saturday night Lauren and I cooked at home, and watched Wimbelton (which, I might add, sucks...eek! ok ok, for a good 30 minutes its OK), then we spent 30 strait minutes trying to get a good picture of both of us (think, two women who are equally over-analytical of their (some would say imaginary) photogenic inadequacies) and Sunday Laur departed early after a cup of joe and some morning laughs. And I'm going to SC wednesday to have a complimentary Christmas gift visit to her wonderful hair stylist, and I cannot WAIT... I might leave today!)


For the last two days my turtle Jimmy has made every effort to escape his tank. He's gotten to be pretty successful as he is right now scampering along the hallway floor, and knocking his shell against Robs closed bathroom door. He makes trips around the apt perimeter, and usually focuses on some closed door that he's sure, with enough shell ramming, will open, and reveal a magical portal to turtle-eden. And if Kris ever reads this blog, tell Will I'll pay him to build me a big tank.

And my roommate is sick. or at least he was yesterday. so I hope he's feeling better today. And I hope I dont get sick too. I've already had a bug twice this year, so I'm trying to make it to 2006 without another plague. Thank goodness I'm not in school for the flu season. I keep thinking I'll begin to miss it, but all I get are more reasons why I dont. And I will go back (actually if I dont, I'm screwed) so at some point I'll have to face reading dry and aimless scientific material, taking exams, writing essays in that horrible format called APA, and enduring the onset of school-related illnesses....people wiping their snot all over keyboards, sneezing unabashedly into the air without kleenex, and couging without covering their mouths. OR covering their mouths with their hands, then opening doors, using keyboards, and running the risk of touching people like me, who think it's all rather disgusting to have to do all that for a piece of paper that QUALIFIES me to have the ACCREDATIONS for a so-called "Better" job. damn this system is screwed up. All I want to do is learn more and help people.

A nice house and a new car would be good too.

MWAHAHAH.

peace-out

Or is it just our fate?

The Story Of A Friday

This morning I dragged myself from a restless bed and made toast for breakfast. Everything going like a normal, well, normal for me, morning...was watching some morning show on tv and the cats were running around wrestling and fighting and they rolled down the hall into my room, growling hissing etc.

A few minutes later my phone rings. I was waiting for a call, so I figured that was it. But even before it rang I kept hearing this weird meow coming from my room, so I got up to go get the phone, and walked into my room to find Curtis wrestling with a black electrical cord that was plugged up charging the battery for my bike lamp. StellaLuna was pawing at the cord too. THEN I realized he was actually tangled in it. So I'm immediatly on the floor, trying to figure out how bad it is, and he's gasping for breath and crying. Stella is sitting beside him licking his ears and face, looking at me like "DO something!"

Ok. The cord is wrapped tight around his throat, double knotted, and was somehow twisted up all the way to the wall. I had to start at the wall, unplugging the charger, and beginning a really slow process of unwinding it so I could allow some slack at his neck. After about 20 seconds, which seemed like minutes, I looked up at the table to see if I could spot my scissors. I had just seen them earlier and thought there was no time to unwind the whole cord, and I needed to cut it. He was literally in a little heap at this point, gasping and making these feeble little wimpering sounds. And I was frantically trying to get the cord undone as fast as I could.

Finally I unwound it to the table leg, but then he had wrapped it around the table leg about 15 times and there was no way I could unwind it with any ease, so I started pulling on the knot at his neck, trying to get it lose enough for him to breath. It seemed impossible, I glanced back for the scissors but couldn't see them, so I just started where I could, losening the cord around the leg of the table enough to unthread the charger/plug part, praying to some God some where to help me and give him enough time for me to get the cord off him. The charger plug was bulky and needed a lot of slack to unthread throught he loops around the table leg. I got most of it done, and started working slack in the cord by his throat. He was just crouched, not making any noise, not moving, kindof slouched to the left, and I just kept picking him up so he would be closer to the leg and reduce the pull on his throat. I could barely hear little gasps he was taking.

My hands were shaking and I was about to scream, I could not get it undone. There was still a thick knot in the cord that was around his neck, and I was doing everything I could to losen it enough to pull his head through the loop. Finally, thank God, it worked, I had it loose enough to make the loop bigger and eventually got it over his head. I just picked him up and started crying so hard I couldn't breath myself. I thought I was about to collapse, the adrenaline was surging so fast in my blood that I felt like my body was trying to decide whether it would explode, or completely shut down. I felt completely helpless and scared and in shock, I was shaking so hard I couldn't even get up.

I kept thinking "this is NOT a good way to start the day"...then I realized that was the wrong process. The real deal is that I could have ignored the meows, thinking they were play fighting, or I could have been gone, not even home, and Curtis would have strangled himself. But I was here, and he's ok. I've never been so thankful.

dispose all

or thats what you'd think it meant. but no. the disposal does not actually dispose ALL...so. what to do with that stuff we just forced down the drain only to find it will not be disposed of...hmmm

its a tuesday and fairly warm out...ok. closer to the temperature of one of the outer rings of hell, but who's keeping track of that these days when it's obvious the more serious issue is all the mayhem that has just come out of the woodwork also known as new orleans. this morning my mother. my mother! of all people, sent me the "be careful" email forward that's going around about all the sex offenders, car jackers, and theives that are looking to relocate from their former home in LA.

oh come on now.

if you ask me, the pressing issue should not be "how can we cause MORE fear in the city?" but instead, how can we prevent the city from collapsing in on itself because of the very delapidated sewage and water system that runs underneath. yesterday yet another main broke on peachtree street...but i can say that despite the apparent bad news that might cause for some...others got a free car wash...unfortunatly i wasn't in the right lane to get a car wash...so, i really can't appreciate the tragedy of the water line

as we can all see, i, the previously employed, am home at lunch time on a tuesday. i could pass it off as a "break"...but i'm more proud to have quit my job for various and sundry reasons, and as soon as i am mentally able to stop bitching about the crap i put up with, i will...in the meantime i'm unemployed, but being 23 and lucky, i still have a really great mom who is on my side and is equally disgusted with my previous employer. so at least i have moral support from the head of the household.

the roomie and i just paid our first months worth of bills...which, tho lower than it could be, was a little high. but everything was fine until the water bill came. a lot of places do it, and ours happens to be one of those who just averages water usage for a type of apt...so it seems that when little jimmy downstairs in the 1bedroom decides he likes the sound of running water while he sleeping and leaves his shower on all night and the bill for the complex goes up, everyone pays more, but we, being a 2br, and one of the larger apts of the 2br style, pay more than anyone else. how about that. rob had the idea of running the shower only to get wet, then turn it off to lather, then on again to rinse...and no repeating. it wastes the aqua. but now we know even that wouldn't save us from little jimmy.

meanwhile, theres a water main 7miles from here that's giving away free carwashes to anyone headed downtown and in the far right lane. lucky bastads.

OK. this is enough to qualify as a blog right? good.

momma?

My baby girl Stella Luna when she was still a fuzzy little kitten. And in my old apartment.

Sleeping Like The Cats

This morning I woke up at 3:45am. For good.

The trip to Keystone Colorado was very adventuresome and fulfilling and I returned Sunday night around 11:45pm. Friday and Saturday we hiked in two completely different environments. One, an alpine hike at Loveland Gap (somewhere in the vicinity of 12,000ft above sea-level) made me realize how easy it would be for a person to die in the Rockies-—the second was a forest-bound trail to two ponds, "Big LIlly-Pad" and "Little Lilly-Pad"…the forest was beautiful and very symmetrical....made me realize how easy it would be for a person to find herself hopelessly lost in alpine forests and die. Morbid? Well, I suppose one could survive had she the right tools. After all, if Anthony Hopkins can do it in "Bear," so can I, right?

Both hikes were also quite breathtaking and awe-inspiring. By the time we were acclimated to the oxygen levels and the time change it was time to leave for home. I had my hair cut in downtown Denver to pass time before our flight. I think I’m still on western time…so I really only woke at 5:45, which would be okay if it were Eastern Time, so I’m not stressing it.

I just wrote “time” five “times” in one paragraph. That has to grammatically incorrect or redundant or something. Maybe just plain annoying.

So I woke up and played with my youngest child/cat, Curtis Johnson, who was snuggled up against my arm in a position I thought should have been rather uncomfortable but he seemed happy. Stella Luna lurks around by herself all night and most of the day and requires little attention. Curtis, on the other hand, is very lovable. They remind me of my brother and me when we were little. He’s drinking from a glass of water on my bedside table….Curtis, that is, not my brother.

Then I read some of Cats Cradle (vonnegut)…. a book I’ve had for years but never really read. Sometimes I collect good fiction so that one day when I wake up early in the morning and can’t go back to sleep, I have something to read. So finally it happened that I needed a good book. And it’s good. I’d read more but I was sidetracked by having to blow my nose and on the way back to bed I noticed my clothes needed to be unpacked. So I started doing that, then had to blow my nose again and while in the bathroom remembered I needed to get my shower curtain out of the dryer because I washed it yesterday. So I did that. Then I thought I’d write a blog, so here I am.

I figure I’ll get really sleepy around 7 when I usually officially wake up for the day and have to start getting ready for work. That’s what usually happens when I wake up in the middle of the morning and can’t go back to sleep.

At some point tomorrow my roommate and I will talk about how we slept and I’ll tell him this story, or maybe he’ll read it first, and he’ll say, “You were awake all that time? I didn’t even hear you” or something like that…even though he has a fan in his room that would drown out any noise going on outside his bedroom. Last night we went to Mellow Mushroom for pizza and PBR. A little “tradition” we have, you might say.

Now I’m debating whether I should finish unpacking or replant the poinsettias that are on our balcony suffering in their original potting mix. If I did that now I wouldn’t have to do it tomorrow when I got home from work, and it’s cool out, no mosquitoes yet, so maybe I will. I’m starting to feel like I’m having an “Ellen” moment.

you know what I mean

5:41am

time

______________________________________________________

Old friends, old friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown thru the grass
Falls on the round toes, on the high shoes
Of the old friends

Old friends
Winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting thru trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders
Of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be 70

Old Friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fear

like a slap-in-the-blog

oh my, I just realized it's been nearly 2 months since I posted last. I am a sorry blogger aren't I? whew.

so, if you're reading this, you are a dedicated blog checker. woohoo! and this might be boring, but I'm out of practice, so a recap, then I'll attempt to try the blog scene on a more regular basis

well, I graduated in May, and am still looking for a "real" job, but am in the meantime working with an interior designer who I believe is a reincarnated slave driver. and that's a bad joke, but it's very labor intensive to get her jobs done. yes my friends, I believe I can be classified as blue collar. But I also think I'm better for it. the value of the dollar has resurfaced, almost blindingly, to my conciousness. so that's all good.


two very special people passed away this summer and I'd like to commemorate them a little here. Kevin Brunelle was killed in a bizarre interstate accident on June 25, and John Henderson died during a combat mission in Afganistan on August 4th. Both were deep and kind hearted men and I know that the lives that they touched will never be the same. and after much soul searching and attemtping to understand the uninterpretable, I believe they had purposes here, and hope that their spirits have moved on to greater existences. they are both deserving of a promotion. and now more than ever, I hope that one day humans learn that war and violence will never truly solve anything. greed and power are certainly our demons aren't they?

rob and I are officially moved into our new apartment in Decatur Georgia. and it's lovely. we're having a great time (when we're home) and both love the area.

and yesterday I was locked out of my apartment for about 7 hours. in a freak event, my keys fell out of my purse as I was getting out of the car because my foot snagged on the seatbelt, making me stumble, jostling my purse enough to purge the keys into the door jam just as the door was closing and CLICK. I was locked out of everything. maintanence doesn't consider lock outs a real emergency, and lucky for me my car is one of the most difficult to break into (probably because it's the easiest to hotwire if you finally get in) so the man Geico sent me fussed over it for a few hours before the fourty fifth loudest thunderstorm this summer raged over my apartment complex, sending us both running for shelter, where i stayed for the next 3 hours. the guy left and came back, and by that time it was 11pm and my cell was dead so the entire time I was just sitting outside considering to a. break the car window, b. break an apt window, c. not do anything rash and irrational, d.climb up the building to my balcony at the back of our apt and get the mosquito candle, e. vomit from all the bites I was accumulating, and f. walking a mile to the nearest gas station to call someone for moral support.

but luckily I was equipped with a kitty litter box and a new shower curtain I'd just purchased at target, so I wrapped up in the shower curtain, put my turtle (also in transport) in the litter box, and pretended to nap nonchalently against my very locked apartment door until the guy came back, finally unlocked my car door, and gave me every line in the book to try to "hook up" before I finally just walked away. i guess he figured all that work was deserving of something MORE than my insturance coverage. bastard. so my plans for a quiet relaxing day were quite staunched

it brought me to laugh and query the sky "what the hell!"

I believe-

it's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine

behind on life.

if it's possible, I think I've fallen out of the web we weave called life. gah. and there are two...or maybe three specific reasons why this has apparently happened.

1.) no internet access at home

and now,

2.) no cell phone

which brings me to seriously consider how obsessed and addicted to convieniences we are, because the first thought that crosses my mind is how did we function without internet and cell phones. because I remember the days of rotary phones...I was alive then...but how? haha. so my life is simplifying rather rapidly...any day now I'll find myself running around a kiddie pool with one of my mothers stockings on my head and nothing else.

wait, that's schizophrenia...we were talking about simplified life weren't we? haha.


oh well. so because I have little web access...the blogging moves along slowly. but dont give up on me. I might have an office job one day :) and since my best bud is moving to Atl maybe sharing the bill for something like, I dont know, dial-up (hah) wont be impossible...but it could be, because we're both gonna be fairly broke. which still isn't that bad. at least we'll be simple hermit folk together ;) haha. woo hoo!

and until I find someone who doesn't want my first born child as payment for a cell phone, my communication with the world has been significanly hindered. sigh.

and that's why I'm voluntarily reentering the marmoots belly. I keep wondering if I'll see that old man in there again...last time I was there he wasn't around...might have been exploring a pancreas or something though so...maybe next time.

peace-

what it was I said.

I think I should get some sort of recognition for now holding the record for staying inside a marmoots belly for the longest period of time. I know many thought I wasn't gonna make it out. but I prevailed.

or was it a skunk

no, of course not because then naturally I'd smell like a skunk, and I guess that after TWO marmoot belly experiences, I know well enough that their innards dont stink too terribly bad. at least not as bad as I hear taun-tauns do. nothing a little Ivory can't fix.

or clorox.

mamas got the magic of clorox.

so my undergraduate career came to a close. for all its raging over the last three weeks I thought surely it would end with something not too short of delivering Earth from an invastion of rhinestone and sequin-covered laughing purple hermit crabs...it did however end on a really fun note, and it being cinco de mayo sort-of iced the cake.

the only drawback was that I had, a few days early, shot myself in the foot (...for a second there I thought about whether there was a past-tense form of "shot" and briefly wondered, "shat?" hah. oh God. here I am graduating from college and I'm only getting dumber by the day) ok, because in my well-intentioned quest to save the world from rhinestone and sequin covered laughing purple hermit crabs, I no doubt must have worn my immune system out, man. and those tiny mid-evil torture devices also known as allergens that include themselves in 99.9% of the air in Richard Moooooore(gan)s house these days finally dug themselves far enough into my distracted sinus cavity to set up camp. little buggars. so for the last few days I've been after them to clean up and pack out. unfortunatly they had already ticked off my mucus membranes which are now attempting to FLOOD the allergens out, so I've also used enough paper products in the last two days to be a primary stockholder of Kleenex and Charmin

and with that, I close, for now. since I have more free time now there are higher chances of me noticing the blue million strange and unusual bloggable things that happen to me everyday-
Peace,Love, and Bugs.

Raising the bar of self efficacy

Wow, dial up is really fast at 7am.

This morning was obviously the deadline for me to do something more mindless than the last mindless thing I did, and so it was, and still is, obviously.
I'm staying with my aunt and uncle in the great area of the "upstate" in South Carolina. We're leaving at some point for Charleston for a foot race on Saturday across the Cooper River Bridge. Yay. I became aware of the fact that ONE of their three dogs is accustomed to sleeping in the guest room (otherwise known as "Rachels room" when I'm present) but that's ok, because snuggly dogs are fun. So Shakes, the oversized mutt puppy, slept with me and was a very nice bed mate. After being frequently awakened by him repositioning, me repositioning, or the occasional sound of my cell phone going dead, I finally rose from the ashes around 6:45am. I tried getting him up too but he doesn't seem to be a morning person.
So I walked to the kitchen and thought "hmm, coffee..." because I'm an addict, yes. And I proceeded to wash out the decanter and plastic filter holder and such, and then dried them and began the search for coffee filters and the brown grains that yeild heaven-in-a-cup around this time everyday, both of which were nestled neatly beside the coffee maker. And I might note that of course they have a new age coffee maker like Andy and Rob do that has this strange digital looking clock on it, which I have yet to find the purpose for but that's beside the point. I filled the decanter to 6 cups with water and then found the filter, placed it in the filter rest, put the filter rest "lid?" on, closed the top, poured in the water, and plugged that sucker in.
A few seconds later, contrary to the soothing sound of perking coffee I so hoped to hear, was that horrible sound of, yes, coffee burning. Hmm. So I looked at the coffee pot only to find that ALL of the coffee was pouring down behind the pot "what the hell" I thought, because I couldn't say it out loud since everyone else is still asleep. And I unplugged the coffee maker and began investigating. It appeared there was a lever that normally, when depressed, allowed coffee to flow into the decanter. But this was not the case. I could only think that maybe it was one of those coffee makers that you had to line up exactly right for the coffee to go in, lined it up to what appeared to be the right angle necessary for the coffee to flow into the decanter instead of onto the counter, plugged it back in, and pressed go. Again the coffee flowed directly behind the pot. So I unplugged it again, and took the decanter out. It became apparent that the lever I THOUGHT needed to be depressed, was instead supposed to be placed inside the decanter, directing the coffee flow INTO the pot instead of behind it.

And there I began to fume:
"This is way to complicated for this family. Do they really go through this everymorning? Making sure the lever is IN the pot. Theres no way, theres no way they do this without fucking it up, and WHY THE HELL is it even necessary, there is never a trick to making perked coffee. Why does it have to be like brain surgery? Tell me? WHY?" And at this point I was muttering to myself, wondering if anyone could hear the burning coffee and thinking they were probably lying in bed thinking "she hasn't figured it out yet, HAH. she'll come in an ask any minute now"

I refused to give in. I made sure the lever was IN the pot, and plugged it back in. But the same thing happened. At least this time more of the coffee was getting into the pot, but it just seemed like a ridiculous process to have to go through. I mean, isn't it supposed to be easy? Because most people have coffee in the morning to WAKE UP. It shouldn't be so difficult when people are assumedly still groggy from just rolling out of bed. Freak!

Depressed about not having coffee yet, I went to the laundry to try my hand at washing some clothes before we left. Ok, actually just a bra and underwear I wanted clean for the trip. So I put some other clothes in with it to make a "load" and turned the settings to their appropriate dials, and pulled the dial to start. Water started rushing into the washer and I was pleased, at least SOMETHING liquid was going where it needed to go.

Heading back into the kitchen I decided to give it one more shot. I began cleaning the burner and the lever, and wiping the counter top. I work best in a clean environment. Most of the time, at least. And I walked over to the sink to get a sponge to sop up the coffee that was still on the counter under the coffee maker.

Then it occurred to me. There was a black object sitting at the side of the counter, bearing a striking resemblance to a filter holder.

I was floored.

All that time I had been trying to make coffee without even having the filter holder in the machine. What kind of fucking idiot forgets that? I mean, how did I even get the filter and coffee in there without noticing? AGH. So I dumbly took it to the coffee maker, took out the filter lid thingy, lifted out the filter and wet coffee grounds, put them in the coffee filter holder, and put it all back in. Yea, it all fit rather perfectly, and after a few attempts at plugging random kitchen appliances other than the coffee maker in, I got it working.

And now I can't figure out why the hell the washing machine wont start agitating.

sigh.

I dont need anyone to pull an April fools on me, because I already did it to myself.
hah

this is really tedious

so, can you WILL the lights to turn green?

Tuesday. Its that day of the week that leaves you feeling a bit...well...strange, I guess. It's after the first day, and before the middle. So it's in that awkward position of existing directly between the beginning of a fresh new week, and the day you start looking foward to the end. So it goes.

in a rush, I skipped the shower and spent 20 minutes straitening my hair, then put it in a pony tail--2 minutes ironing a blue blouse only to choose my wrinkled blue angora cardigan instead as I walked out the door, and I drove to school to save time, but was stuck in one of those 9:20am government-organized traffic jams that put me as late as I would have been had I just waited for the train near home- consequently I was 20mins late to my 9:30 class and then remembered I forgot to put on deoderant. I consoled my realization of being late, paying for parking, and relying on yesterdays deoderant application with the notion that "at least I have another class after this," and it was cancelled. I'm supposed to meet a friend for lunch, but I left my cell at home, so I have no idea where she'll be. Anywhere between a hotdog stand and the 11th floor of general classroom bldg...that leaves me about 3 blocks and 2500 people to sift through before I could find her without the aid of the electronic leash.

SO, my plot to guide my day through mind-control has evidently gone a bit awry. Alas, I did manage to will all the traffic lights to turn green before I had to stop on the way to the traffic jam (hah) And I'm still in excessivly good spirits but I'm not sure if it's me, or the coffee.


now I'm leaving school, driving home, retrieving my cell, adjusting deoderant levels, and taking the train back. That's what I'm going to do. I'm planning it now and it WILL happen.

mwahahah

Oh that's bloggable

As I sit in the Ed.Bldg computer lab, attempting to eat a peanut butter cracker as quietly (and discretely) as possible, I realize I have a blog topic. Actually, it was Robs idea, so here goes.

I have a laptop with an airport card and of course it picks up everyone's wireless signal if I'm within range and cock it at just the right angle. When I first got it, I went all over the house I live in/under to see if anyone in the close neighborhood had wireless...to no avail. Then, one sunny afternoon, I was plugging away at an article for class, and viola! A small and seemingly insignificant signal came wafting in the window and appeared on my screen. Being an experienced wireless pirate, I attempted (unsuccessfully, I might add) to increase the signal to a level that would allow me to log onto the world-wide (ever notice the irony in that title?..ok, I wont go into the evils of money and capitalism. another blog, another time) so lifting the computer into the window didn't help, moving to the upstairs bathroom didn't help (always works for my cell phone), and the kitchen window didn't help, so I gave up, even as words from rob about his neighbors echoed between the walls of my often hollow-seeming skull (they suddenly found a signal when they sat in the left-southwest quadrant of their couch and tilted their computer at a 37deg angle and lifted their left leg for 2 seconds)

A month or so later, which happened to be 2 nights ago, I realized I had never downloaded an article I needed to read for a quiz we were having the next morning in one of my classes. Looking at the clock revealed it was too late for me to go to campus, download, and get back in time to read AND watch I (heart) Huckabees with my neighbor. Even if I drove and sat in my car and downloaded remotely from the street. I needed a quick fix, and then thought I might just have to get up early because I wasn't missing another chance to watch the promised wonderful silliness of that movie. Then it occurred to me that our friendly neighbors with the incessantly squalling baby had wireless...(they suddenly found a signal when they sat in the left-southwest quadrant of their couch and tilted their computer at a 37deg angle and lifted their left leg for 2 seconds)

mmhhmmmm....I thought, and walked over to the window. I yanked out the make-shift wedge of PVC pipe, and opened it up. Then, laptop and raincoat in hand, crawled out into the wild jungle of underbrush,vines,and saplings that take up the majority of my landlords "acreage"...predominantly rampant growing wisteria, ivy, and one very large camilla tree....yes, tree. not bush, like it's SUPPOSED TO BE! ah the woes of neglect. tsk tsk tsk.

and it was raining...well, drizzling

conscious of the time, I hid amidst branches of the camillia TREE, and low and behold, got the signal I needed for access to the web, downloaded the article, and proudly climbed back through the window, knocked my little wooden model off its position on my tv stand, and jumped to the floor of my dungeon.

Upon further inspection I realized it was the wrong article. Baagh! With a sneer I went BACK to the window, re-un"lock"ed it, and crawled BACK out into the rainforest, but this time my signal in the branches wasn't so great, I needed to get closer. So I crept over to the fence that separates the neighbors wonderfully manicured lot from our legends-of-sleepy-hollow setting, and looked for a signal. Even pressing the l.t. against the fence wasn't good enough, how could that be? I was CLOSER for crying out loud!

The neighbors were indeed home, but I didn't know if perhaps one of the spousal units might be working late, or if there WAS another spousal unit, or if they were even human. But they did have a healthy lunged infant of some sort. Still, venturing over to their lot was risky, and perhaps a bit too thrilling, because I did begin plotting how to sneak to the other side unnoticed. But I couldn't just sit completely on the other side of the fence because that would put me in their driveway, in plain view. And what if there were motion sensor lights on the house? It IS Atlanta, can't be too careful. Hell, what if someone attacked ME? I briefly considered the possibility of just going over and hiding behind the boxwoods at their front porch, appreciating the nice little water garden they have over there (I've always wanted to know if there are fish in it) and Robins advice still echoed ('stealing' wireless net is perfectly legal...you could go sit on their front doorstep and piddle around on the net for all you want and the only thing they could do is say youre tresspassing)
But I ended up wimping out and merely creeping to the corner of the fence, crouching behind a big boxwood, covering up with my electric teal raincoat, being stuck in the butt and legs by wisteria, and downloading the article. Of course the damn thing took SIX minutes. Geez. In the meantime I'm paranoid that someone is going to come up the driveway and spotlight me with their headlights. But they didn't. SO I got the article, took it in, printed, read, and watched Huckabees all before midnight. Ta da. My next project is to find the best place for a signal, machete a path, and construct a makeshift desktop out of wisteria vines so next time it'll be easier. Well, that's if I dont find an antenna that can amplify that signal right into my apt. Which I think it highly possible.

so there you have it. blog of the century. I wonder if it'll even publish it's so long. hmmm.

I've been walkin alone now
for a long long time
I dont want to hang out, now
With the friends who just aren't mine
(rem)

peacery

light a candle light a match

ahem...

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, Happy BIRTHday dear mee, happy birthday to me

(clapping)

thank you

(bow)

haha

i dont get it

sometimes we find ourselves so inundated with the worries of daily life that the future becomes an overwhelming weight.

at least that's what i think. then sometimes the future seems so promising that we neglect the present...welcome to the machine

so this morning around 4 am i dreamt i was attacked from above by some strange creature as i found myself in a large body of water. and it was night time. there goes another one of my water dreams. turns out that just as the creature flogs me i managed to be brave and grab it and sling it away from me and simultaneously scream and wake up to see my cat approaching my face where i was safely hidden under the covers and pillows of my bedly womb...so there i am very freshly spooked and an animal really is invading so i grabbed her and threw her off the bed. talk about a morning. i apologized later (9ish) but i think she's so old that by then she didn't remember. but earlier when i did rise, around 7, she was sitting on the floor with her front paws crossed just looking at me like, "bitch"
..."what are You looking at?"...i said.

we have a love/hate relationship

so there began my morning. and my first class was cancelled so i'm taking advantage of the opportunity to announce my escape from the belly of a giant marmot

it was pretty scary

there was another guy in there too who had been there for years he thought. he had a pretty long beard and didn't look too good so i believed him...i offered for him to escape with me but he said he'd been in there so long he wouldn't know how to function in the outside world...weirdo...i recommended therapy

it's 10:30am thursday and its the official end of the academic week for me, alas i have a 4:30-7 class this afternoon....why me

the bus ride i went to write this, 4 a.m., this, letter

just go in screaming

here I am sitting and waiting for a funny blog to come to mind. I'm overdue...on my blogging, at least, and figure I need to do something about it.

(insert blank stare)

yep, that's about it.

whew-

On becoming a Simpson-

"no a skunk isn't a mammal..."

next biggest dumb comment I've made so far this century...it might even beat the Viking comment I made a few weeks ago. So, hence the title of this blog, I think I was secretly born as Jessica Simpsons (fraternal) twin sister (ERGO, minus the looks)...I DID, however, learn my ABCs at an early age so they put me up for adoption- sigh

Well, it all started because we, Rob, Laura, and I, were talking at dinner about the rat that got into my apt one sultry Thursday afternoon. The discussion had turned to rodents, and Laura said "what I want to know is, what is a skunk? Is it considered a rodent?" and we queried over it for a few seconds before Rob said "well, it's a mammal...isn't it?" quickly followed by my ridiculously unthought-out retort, and in a very condesending tone as if Robin was such a young naive thing (wait, but isnt he? haha jk) he didn't know a skunk wasn't a mammal...then reality stepped in just as pride from being the "intelligent" member promptly stepped out-

then the conversation turned to the platypus...which, I've found (see Platypus), really IS a mammal (Mammals for Dummies), contrary to our Saturday night groups decision. But it lays eggs, which makes it difficult for the conceptually challenged to...well...conceive. Why are we conceptually challenged, you might ask? Well, by the end of our discussion we had affirmed that the Platypus wasn't a mammal, but perhaps it was a family by itself, then decided that no, the Platypus wasn't a family by itself, but perhaps it was a Marsupial....I mean, COME ON...where were our brains...to think that we, as students at WHS (which I realize might not be saying much as it is) we were actually considered ADVANCED students. YeEsH!

ok, so for the record, the Platypus AND all Marsupials are indeed mammals. we're now clear on that. Whew.

Then, this afternoon, contrary to apparent lack of knowledge, I took an exam in my college sexuality and society class, where sex has become even more UN-conceptual than whether a skunk is a rodent or not...and while I think I did well, we'll just have to wait and find out...)

Happy Valentines Day to all you Cupid fans :)

Peacery-

welcome to the machine

ahh. thursday. which means today is the end of my academic week and tomorrow the only thing i have to come to school for is something that i enjoy, which includes actually applying my knowlegde to real reasearch in the psych dept, not that i dont enjoy this daily learning, but i dont enjoy what learning means for most of us engaged in and to the great Academia...and that's the governments fault, shame on them

on a side note=
I think it's funny how we refer to the gov with a very simple "they"...."they're watching" "they have ways of knowing" "they monitor email activity"....who is coming after you for pirating too much music? "they" are! by george...what was that strange noise outside your window last night?
well, according to my brother it's them,
"shh, did you hear that? they might be listening"
Who? who's listening?
"dude, the government"

classic stefan line

hell, he might be right...but only because he and a few other fellow aspiring engineers are secretly plotting to build a subatomic particle compatible rail-gun large enough to destroy the earth, apparently

so, back to the world of social sciences, not quite as in depth as rail guns and government schemes...really briefly I'd like to say that this morning I took two rather appropriatly brutal exams for Race and Ethnic Relations, and the Holocaust, back to back.
I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one who at a certain point (usually in the wee hours of the morning) decide, with a significant sigh, that studying any more is a futile effort, and then reluctantly goes to bed only to rise before dawn to read on into the endless chapters of print and lecture notes--and i now realize i do it to satisfy the imaginary expectations of the invisible eyes of those unidentified flying beings who watch us all the time and might be taking notes...I mean, I sure dont want to be the one who was a social loafer and went into an exam less prepared than I could be, without even attempting to cram those last little tid bits of information into my jammed skull...what would they say?

on a more eventful topic, and MAYBE to the appreciation of perhaps at least one of my dear readers, I, in a fit of being tired of my excuses as to why I'm not riding much lately, hauled the sur out to conyers in the Tuesday afternoon drizzle--woohoo! a great ride--I even successfully added another notch (or two) to my belt of bike related accidents. Heres what happened.
A new section of the trail is ideal for bmx-inclined mtbers, but actually GETTING to that section on a bmx bike would be, well....lets not think of that right now--I think they do something special for bmx races--anyway, theres a curve in the trail which I have deemed good only for improving your cornering skills b/c it is not only a curve, it's a curve around the side of a large hill (meanin you screw up, you goin down fo sho), and the curve is simulateously a spot for bunny hopping, only hopping that particular spot would require skill that Joseph probably has, but I haven't yet mustered-
But surprisingly I swung around that without a hitch and felt a little glow of " whoa, I did it this time without getting squirrely" and not 10 seconds later (no doubt as a result of that gained confidence as I was traveling a good bit faster and forgetting about the presence of water..aka, mud) found myself moments away from a shoulder to trunk collision with a large oak tree. Quick decision! i slouched my shoulder down far enough to narrowly miss the tree, but consequently lost control while attempting to multitask b/w dodging the tree and maneuvering around and down the trail where the root system presented a little obstaclish jostle, and is also on a "little drop" as some might say--so I proceeded to the air, and upon recontact slid about 4 feet through the mud on my right shoulder and elbow- by that point I was MUDDDDDDY! and even more soaking wet if you can imagine, but, it was a good crash I must say. Indeed. Except my bike sustained what I would expect was a considerable blow to the rear derailluer, a crucial mechanism that I've been warned time and time again is officially on it's last leg...maybe its last toenail, even

so there you have it, end of story.
Peacery-

a symmetric parabola

I see that I have to practically abandon the blog scene to get any response out of anyone. The nerve. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!

Ok. Just kidding.

Tuesday I dropped my favorite notebook/planner in the toilet of the 9th Floor Bathroom in the Ed. Building. Sigh. I had specifically gone up from the 2nd floor b/c that w.c. was out of t.p., but the stalls up there (and all over campus for that matter) are miniscule--So small that walking in takes really complex maneuvering. So I had put my notebook and water bottle on the t.p. dispenser, entered, slowly turned and wedged my bookbag and satchel beside the toilet, and squeezed in, closing the door behind me. Details later I was attempting to leave the stall. That's when it happened. I managed to get my bags in one hand, and leEAaned back (I felt like I was playing limbo) to open the door, and as I opened the door I brushed the notebook that was still on the t.p. dispenser, and as I turned, splash! I yelped, knowing it was my notebook, then I cursed, "bastard!" and snatched it out within 2 seconds. Is there a rule for dropping things in the toilet? Poor little notebook. Fortunately only a few pages got really wet so I just tore them out and put a bunch of cheap paper towels between pages that appeared to want to be damp. Today you would hardly notice effects of the toilet water assault. Like a phoenix from the ashes, my little notebook survived.

Now I realize I have a habit, it seems, of dropping things into the toilet.HAh.Well. Last summer it was my cell phone...I don't know how it happened. I was just standing there facing the toilet, perhaps contemplating how bad I had to pee from the fourty thousand glasses of spiked punch we'd just consumed, and my friend Jenn, also in the bathroom, b/c girls travel in numbers, remember, thought I was somehow projecting an unidentifiable object into the toilet from waist level. Talk about a confusing moment. Later the next day, after recovering from that hangover, I took my cell apart and cleaned up the frazzled computer boards...it worked for another year or so before I finally gave in and bought a new one--so the odds look good for my planner.

So it's Thursday. ALREADY. This morning Dr.George said "is it just me or is time passing really fast?" and it is man, this semester is flying by. Graduation is just around the bend--yahoo!

Hope anyone who happens to read this has a fandiddly weekend. I'm going to Robs for his birthday party Saturday night. Happy 23rd to Robster! Woo hoo! Wee hee!

later gators

warm up this engine-

this morning began around 7am with me attempting to persuade myself back into sleep for a fleeting few mins before rising to the occasion of cinnamon biscuits (really good, by the way) coffee and Good Morning America--and National lampoons somethingorother that for whatever reason captured me for a good solid 25mins...at least...then I tended to readying myself and left the "lakehouse" as it has come to be called...but really its the "house on 5 strategically placed endangered fish ponds"...lakehouse is way easier

1hr20mins later, me and Avril Lavigne rolled up to the Atl abode to drop off groceries, I left her (briefly), and ran in, grabbed an apple, a banana, and my nalgene in mid sprint toward the door to catch the 11:30 subway. I hadn't changed the water in my Nalgene b/c it was the same full bottle of water I'd planned to take Friday but forgot, and to me, it seems like being a closed container, the water is still ok. During the ride to school the only person who's ever really criticized my drinking "old" water (because I do this often, esp in the car, and on the trail) called me and I dropped the line that I had last weeks water with me. To which Kevin replies "oh gad rachel, dont drink that water...I mean it" ....so maybe I said I wouldn't (I probably did, say that, I mean) but I did...drink it, that is. And I've been really proud of myself about drinking more water since the acquisition of my new green bottle. Thursday I got down a full 96oz thru the course of the day, and also peed about that many times.

SOOOO....About 20mins before class numero uno was over I was down to about 6oz of water when suddenly I spotted a curious little occurrence going on inside my bottle. Surely it's not what I think it is. But, indeed, there were little white dots floating around in the remaining water. No doubt they had been growing on the surface over the weekend and were jostled into submersion and I didn't notice (imagine that) so I, with quiet contemplation, begin to wonder :

#1 if anyone else had noticed I was drinking molded water
#2 about how much mold I had ingested so far
#3 if the dull ache in my gut was from the mold
#4 if the ache was imagined b/c I have a tendency toward hypochondria, and
#5 that maybe it would turn out to be ok seeing as how mold makes penicillin

eh?

Well I'm not dead yet, and I'm on bottle #2...which, upon finishing, will put me at my daily 8-10...then onward if I can manage...drinking water is my new hobby, and there better be some good thing coming out of it too...because finding a restroom every 30mins gets to be a hassle.

During Sexuality and Society we discussed how "gender" in our society is still attemptedly crammed into two boxes of male and female...and after the discussion of all the different "types" of gender, we constructed a gender line, with arnold Schwartzenegger (sp) on one end and (aftermuch deliberation) Halle Berry at the other...so Janet Reno was on Arnolds team and Richard Simmons was on with Halle...and we were left with wondering where we fell on that line and Had we changed over time?

I dont know? Have I? Have you ever noticed deliberation (a fav word of mine) is De-liberation- we weren't quite as liberated after that decision

back to me (as the other rb would say) I guess maybe I am a little more comfortable using a "male-style" wallet now than I would have if I was still attending school or living in the twilight zone of woodruff (which is beginning to encompass most of spartanburg county, as far as chips are concerned)...but the wallet is bad ass, and carrying a stupid GIRL wallet is just too much sometimes. No doubt I carry the wallet inside a bag that could serve as a purse instead of my back pocket (unless I need to) and aside from the fact that I carry as many small books in that bag as possible throughout my day, it IS my purse, but it's not a purse, it's a satchel...carried along beside my Bookbag...theres a difference.


now we're onto our last leg of energy
6% to be exact, I'm gonna get a warning soon-
theres ice on the ground
and I'm
moving
into
the
process
of
ending

all natural (from concentrate)

it seems no one notices those little words. now, for all the world to know! from concentrate means TOILET WATER!!!! ok, not really toilet water, but my mother affirmed it's a well known fact they dont exactly use drinking water to deconcentrate concentrated fruit juice (and MY mom is always right, usually). But if you really like the stuff and are too lazy to reach through the shelves into the orchard for a farmhand to hand you a "Natures Own" jug of nonconcentrate or if you just REALLY like the from concentrate stuff, at least just buy the concentrate (it's way cheaper) and mix it with your own toilet water...then at least you know where it's coming from...

but for some of you who might be confused...
ahem...no, you dont HAVE to use toilet water

so today was a good day. by good I mean that even though I got into my first class 3 minutes late because the line at starbucks was so long and even though I spilled a portion of my tripletallnowhipmochaforrachel over my hand while entering class, at least the class was good...and really moving...i think at one point the professor almost cried. talk about passionate. he's one of the most passionate professors I have this semester...besides my sex and society prof...and that just comes with the territory...it would suck to have a non-passionate pro-sex professor--then what would be the point?

then I went to hear another professor speak about Involuntary Celibacy...as the title of her seminar indicated "I can't get no satisfaction"...
Sadly, I didn't really learn anything except that involuntary celibates usually have really high expectations of WHO they want. One guy who she said filled out her survey said he wanted a "tall slender blonde who is educated, "politically savvy," and who has her own career"...(well who the hell doesn't?) but this man, in particular, was an overweight computer tech (no offense to comp techs, you make the world go round these days) who worked from the basement of a small firm in rural texas and barely cleared 23k annually...(then of course he needs a woman with a career)

but, if I may be so bold

WTF?

right...so next time you find yourself wondering why you can't get no satisfaction, who exactly are you wanting to get it FROM? maybe you should just settle for the chunky girl in accounts payable who's had a crush on you for years? you never know...she might just rock your world...and she has a great personality!

the professor giving the speech kept hinting that she may give a solution to involuntary celibates...but it never really reached what I would call a solution, just information about what other people have done...turns out the sooner you address it, the better....

isn't that just the story of our lives-

my married with children friend who met me there (despite the fact that we were both hungry and intended to get lunch until I decided to detour via the speakers auditorium) kept elbowing me (she's recently come into NONinvoluntarycelibacy) saying "she needs to survey me! I'd tell her 'how did I cope? Masturbation baby!'"...to which I finally gave in and said "ok lets go get lunch"...that seemed to make her happy...hah...and over lunch I made the mistake of asking how her sex life was now that it was rekindled, and she said "hell, ANY sex is good...and at least now my hand isn't so tired!"....classic
you're thinking (my god, is this what women talk about over lunch?) well, yea, sometimes...you DONT?

honestly, I think society should be a lot more open about sex and sexuality, so I'm going to make it a point to mention this stuff on my blog occasionally...if for no other reason than shock therapy. There you have it. No worries, no personal stuff, and everything remains anonymous- but you know who you are....


hahaha...just kidding

maybe

but for the record she and I REALLY talked about the latest book we both happened to get and read over christmas break called MANS SEARCH FOR MEANING...by Dr. Frankl. He is a concentration camp survivor, a psychiatrist, and one of the founders of Logotherapy. Something I think can be summed up as a way of living that focuses on suffering. With a great emphasis on being worthy of your suffering. So there.

today I have consumed 64 ounces of water. Proudly. And I'm on my 3rd bottle. And I'm officially about to float out of the computer lab

...about that time eh chap?

right-o

do vikings even talk?

...compliments of last nights conversation...I promised I would use it as my blog title...because I was the dodo-head that said it and Kevin systematically keeps count of things I say that are a little, how you say, blonde, and it made "the list". Well, you see, I was trying to talk like a viking, and had initially mistaken their utterances with those of pirates and said "arrrgh!" and was quickly corrected, so then I said "uh...thor!" because thats the only viking sounding word I know and the only reason I know it is because one time on Duck Tails (ohwoohoo)Adventures they were captured by vikings and that's the only sound they made I can remember...actually they spoke English...naturally...but it all sounded like "thor" to me...so I, in a fit of desparation b/c i didn't know how to imitate a viking, said "(sigh) I dont know how to talk viking...Do vikings even talk?"

oh yes yes i pick up on the self-centered connotations of that statement. it's ok, for anyone who is turning red and swelling with anger, relax, it's all in jest. I know vikings talk. How do you think they figured out how to raid all those villages? (actually I think they probably could with just grunts and nods, and the image of it is really funny)

this morning one of my professors made a comment about how he was watching Dr.Phil. (which spurred laughter before he even got to the point) and for all who read this who dont already know Dr. Phil is a pathetic schmuck, well, I'm sorry for you. He's like the McDonalds 99cent menu of psychological fast food. You can become addicted to it, but is about as bad as it gets as far as health goes. And I will be the first to admit once you see it you feel this incredible urge to sit and partake. Dont let it happen to you. Unless you watch it to make fun of him....that's just fine, and funny! Anyway, last night Bill Cosby was on. I didn't see it, thankfully. But in class it started a conversation about Dr. Huxtible and the distorted view of "see, black people CAN get ahead and be happy, theres no problem" because in reality, theres a big ole gap we like to ignore, and shows like The Cosby Show help us with that illusion- anyway, I like Bill Cosby. I got nothin but love--but the idea of him being on the Dr Phil show. Well, I dont really want to know, bless his heart, so I gave up imagining why.

hell, I forgot where I was going with that one-sided conversation,
and I'm running out of free time...must depart. Sad isn't it?

ciao-

yes virgina, saturday is the 21st.

I notice that upon realizing that the REAL purpose of blogging is for entertainment, the pressure rises to be, well, entertaining. Sometimes I think "I should post something nice, like how much I love my friends or how beautiful the sky is today" and then momentarily I realize..."shit, no one wants to read that crap"...we'd rather slow down to see if theres a bloody arm hanging out of one of the cars in a nasty 3 vehicle collision...I mean, we need to get SOME kind of compensation for sitting in traffic for so long...

now all of you that snickered at that are going strait to hell

so its Friday which means I officially survived week 2 of spring classes. It's unusually warm outside today too...so I have to decide whether to go rip the Verizon bastards a new tush-hole for screwing up our account, again...or to go ride my bike. The latter is obviously more appealing. If I dont go to the trail, I'll risk the weather not being this good tomorrow. Hmmm.

aw geez. On mad TV the other night (I dont know if it was a re-run or not, I rarely know how to watch tv usually it's used as a noise maker so I dont feel so alone in the dungeon while I'm fiddling around with something I probaly shouldn't be paying so much attention to....wait, that sounded bad...I mean like reorganizing my refridgerator or scrupulously scrubbing the kitchen floor on hands and knees wondering how the hell I alone can get it that dirty...I blame it on the cat)

see, totally off the subject in just a matter of seconds

on mad tv was CrankYankers (do we all know those little puppets) and the guy was calling a 900 number and a woman answered and he was complaining that his wife wouldn't make farm animal noises while they were having sex. I was of course hooked at this point. Not because I want my wife to make farm animal noises and needed the soution from a comedy show, I'm not even married...and farm animal noises might spur some laughter, but certainly not...you know. So then he gets the lady to quack and moo and then he gets her to impersonate famous people while he's...you know. So he's...you know(ing)...and she starts an impersonation of John Wayne and he's all like...and then he realizes he's (you know(ing) to John Wayne...so he stops and shares with her his realization....so she does Lauren Bacall. Then suddendly I realize I was partly named after Lauren Bacall...now my middle name is doing telephone porno through crank yankers

...now it's later in the day. ok, it's tomorrow. I'm going on blogger strike until next week. ciao.

i steal scrap paper

I'm presently waiting for a print job to finish. I think the printer here has it in for me because it always slows down on mine so everyone behind me gets all ticked. Then the printer plugs out the next persons job really fast so it was OBVIOUSLY my papers that slowed their jobs down. Really, I mean, it's printing one page every 30 seconds or so, how embarrassing. It's just a PDF. Whats the big deal.

I collect the paper that students leave on the printer if it's not printed on, or if theres just a date or something at the bottom. So there, I confess. I grab it and use it at home for printing random stuff or rough drafts of the blue million papers I have to write over the course of this semester. Saves a little on money. And I see it as a contribution to the environment. I mean, otherwise it would go into the trash or maybe even into a recycling bin only to be reprocessed into new paper- again

so today I'm trying to catch up on all that the MLK weekend put me behind on. Reading for classes being the main thing. Last night I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to finish the NIGHT novel for my Holocaust class and we're supposed to be done with it today and have a review, but the review was originally due on the 20th and then Tuesday he changed it to the 18th so he said we could turn it in either day even tho the 20th is a Saturday, numbskull. Not that that mattered b/c I'd be turning it in tomorrow anyway, late, but now it's not...yay.

Has anyone ever started typing and not looked at where their fingers are on the keyboard b/c you do it so much you kindof dont have to anymore? And suddenly you're typing words and it looks like this:

o, s dyif[of gtrslom ofopy nrvsidr zo vsmyd hry yjod dyigg tohjy/

and then you think "whoa, what's wrong with this keyboard?" and then you realize you were one key off and USER ERROR sinks it's ugly teeth in-

The ski weekend was a success. At least we actually made it to Boone and did something that I think would qualify as skiing from 10am-4:30pm. It started snowing on our last two runs down the mtn...especially the last run--Kev let me use his face mask because my face was wet and felt nearly frozen by the time we got about 1/4 of the way down. The temperature alone was quite tolerable, but coupled with frozen precipitation it was a pretty painful experience. At first I wanted to be tough and refuse the offer but he insisted and then I figured well, he has a beard. That has to count for something. Doesn't it? Does it? Joseph learned to snowboard and I think he and his match both had a good time. Then we managed our way homeward.

Upon leaving the Woodruff house I finally did what everyone who owns a roof mounted bike rack fears doing. Yes, indeed. I raked that sucker right off the top of my car by driving under a stretch of metal cord that I myself had erected across an offshooting drive from our main driveway to prevent certain trespassers from using it. So not only did I destroy my rack, I also felt like a real dumbass for falling victim to my own booby trap. Such is life. The bike survived without a scratch though (that I can tell), at least it still rides like a charm. And that's all that really matters.

This weekend I'm southbound to visit mama Barnes and daddy Matthews in Columbus. Good ole Mike Mahoney is in town visiting from Houston so I'll probably see him at some point. And if we're all lucky perhaps the brother and Mattie will decide to show up too. All I know is that even though last weekend was extended, I'm glad this weekend is here now...for some reason these few days have been hectic and blurry.

oh hey, the print job is done...

peace bros ;) hope you all have a nice weekend.

LIVESTRONG

hello hello hello, this is your chaplain speaking, the time is now one twenty two pm on a blustery thursday afternoon--praise the Lord.

I have been a negligent blogger. Hmmm....so sorry. A brief recap of events. Sunday night I snuck to Warm Springs under the alias of Dr.Girlfriend but secretly enjoyed it as a calm before the Monday morning storm. I also balanced my checkbook...one of those threetimesayear things. Monday being the first day of Spring classes, I realize I have officially been at GSU for nearly a year and a half now...ta da.

And presently the wind is about to blow some of the GSU flags off their...flag holding things. The term has escaped me.

Tuesday night I was informed that our house (my apt) had been burglarized sometime that day. Fortunately the intruders didn't think to come in the very open (then) windows of the dungeon (my apt. hah). And typically the house would be a disappointment for anyone who wasn't interested in stealing junk or books (books being a treasure to me...one mans junk....) but Jean sadly left her door unlocked, and her room was ransacked. I hear from Peter (our newest "visiting" house member) that her room was pretty messy anyway, and they can only determine missing her camera and a coin bucket so far. We think it was neighborhood kids. I spent yesterday morning burglar-proofing my apt with PVC pipes to wedge in the windows that don't have locks. Brilliant! The last time I tried cutting one of those pipes (there were a bunch of them stashed in my closet for some reason or another)Rob and I used a saw I stole from our Woodruff house...this time, however, I wised up and used the pressing iron. The pressing iron! Brilliant!
Hah.

Yesterday was a very nasty day for me. I had a perpetual headache that by the end of the day (after medicine and water continued to fail me as remedies) was beginning to feel more like some sort of illness. I actually think it was comparable to mild poisoning. You know, like food poisoning, but without upset stomach. Tho the necessity of finding an escape route to vomit did cross my mind a few times. Then I started thinking it was a migraine...but I haven't had one of those in so long I thought it wasn't really possible. Anyway, I was trying to make it through for my 4:30pm class. So around 3:45 I staggered into the dark classroom in hopes of putting my head down for a few mins before someone barged in an threw on the lights. One guy came in to use the computer, but he left the lights off and didn't' say anything, which was nice. Then the cleaning lady came in but she said she'd rather leave the lights off too, bless her. Then two snobby men came in and sat down and turned on the lights and the cleaning lady yelled at them and one of the guys said "well you can't clean very well in the dark can you?" and she said "find a piece of paper on the floor over there and then ask me that question again"....cunning.
Anyway, the lights stayed on, the cleaning lady fussed for a few more mins and then left, and more students started trickling in. I began noticing they were not your typical behavioral science students. Some were even wearing suits. I grew increasingly suspicious (was I really in the wrong class? the last time I did this I was a sophomore at a new school? I KNOW where I am this time...what's the dealio?) so I took out my schedule and rechecked "Forensic Social Work GCB 629 4:30pm-7pm"....I was in the right place, it was 4:30ish, maybe there was a class change. I waited for the instructor. When he walked in I knew something was amiss. Picture a 1980s car salesman. Probably about 45-47yrs old, tall, a tad overweight, scruffy dark blonde hair, rose colored (aviatorstyle) glasses, a striped short sleeve button up and pleated & cuffed dark kahki pants. You know the kind. It was all wrong. Sociology profs wear jeans. Well, at least if they're under 50. So I leaned over and asked the girl to my left what she was there for...."Real Estate 8330"...."ah" said I. So after a moment of contemplation of what to do...I excused myself from the classroom. The prof followed me out the door and asked if I was sure I wanted to leave and I said I was in the wrong class, my schedule must have changed. So I staggered (still in quite a substantial amount of pain) to the bookstore because there were a few chapters I needed to read before my books come in the mail, and on my way to Marta from the bookstore I saw Jiggy James sitting on a wall outside the student center. He saw me too, but then I was intercepted by a man selling books on how to do Yoga "uhhhhh....no" said I, and continued to my fellow aspiring psychologist. So I conversed with Jiggy and waved at his grandma when she came to give him money for parking.
News of the century. Jiggy says his new girlfriend hates me. What a shocker. This is always a humorous phenomena to me because many of these women hate me without ever meeting or knowing me. This is also why it takes about 3 fingers to count how many female friends I have. Real friends, I mean. I dont know whether I should feel bad or good. On one hand its a real inconvenience to have to feel like theres a chance some psycho bitch is going to attack me from behind for no reason (oh wait, no, because I am a seasoned friend of the guy she JUST met) and then that mild feeling of flattery, because I have such an influence on these peoples lives...I mean, they've literally handed me the power. Just call me She-Ra. Jealousy is such a waste of time. Really. To all the ladies, if you dont trust him, leave him! (same goes for guys) So the whole time we were sitting outside (after I found out she was a GSU student) I would occasionally say "oh god is that her!" and James would jump up...and then later I'd say "oh god, she's not into athletics is she?"...hah...really I said something every time a blonde walked by. And he freaked every time. So I used his reaction to illustrate how he is getting himself into another bad relationship. Getting it on with a psychobitch just aint cool yo. Even worse is that I invited him to the Social Neuroscience lab to see if wonderful professor Vanman would give him a spot, and James got it, so he got his research practicum, and consequently we're working together in the lab all semester. I bet she's thrilled about that.
ANywho.
While I was sitting there making Jigs freak about every girl who passed by, I looked up my schedule online and noticed my 4:30 pm is on Thursdays, not Wednesdays. So there you have it.
Then I went home and went to bed. Woke up around 9 and read two chapters in my Holocaust book. Drank some H2O, and went back to bed. This morning I felt better. I even played music while I was getting ready and then I took some vitamins. At 7:30 I still had a headache, but it was gone by the time I got to school. Met Christyna for lunch and talked about her Sexual Identity class (in which the text is titled "Queer Studies"...awesome) and talked about why people order Caesar salad with dressing OTHER than Caesar, and how that kindof defeats the purpose...because the guy at the counter said "what kind of dressing"...and I kindof gave him this "what kind of dressing do you USUALLY use on Caesar salad?" look...haha...we laughed...but I get it. Some people want romaine lettuce and croutons and parmesan but no anchovy and egg dressing, right? Ok. but then it's not a caesar salad. just so you know.

So today has been good. Tomorrow is Friday. I have a meeting at 10:30, and then I'm going to a seminar with Christyna at 1pm. Then I'll be waiting to see if any ONE (one who must be rebelling against email these days, but who used to give it pretty frequently and was GOOD at it, I might add-which I'm naturally a little disappointed about-but, no worries) feels up to a weekend of skiing, and if so, we'll head to SC tomorrow evening. Jo and Karlie will be coming up Saturday, and Sunday we'll be in Boone, NC. Hopefully.

Thats the plan. But as we all know, especially if its happening in the life of me, plans rarely follow through. So if everything goes as planned, it's an official sign of the apocalypse (god told me so) and everyone can proceed to having apocalyptic sex (because, I mean...what would Lance do?) Quick! Everyone! Consult your bracelets!

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day...in case anyone forgot why they dont have to go to work/school. And, as has been drilled into our little studious heads all week:
"Have a day-on, not a day-off"

peace-

send me on my way

hello! didn't anybody notice today is friday?
uh huh...because I didn't. Not until around 8am when I was talking about this weekend and realized that whoops this IS the weekend. Essentially. alright, that's cool I think. Except school starts on Monday. Which is one day closer to graduating, but, you know...being burned out since last summers 13hrs in 7weeks stunt of mine (and successfully keeping a high gpa at that) has kindof put a damper on my academic enthusiasim. Although I am sortof excited that since I'm now finished with my psych degree I am taking an entirely new set of classes for spring...that set being for sociology, my minor, and also I'm stoked that I got into a research practicum with the Social Psych department and the way cool professor Dr. Vanman. Wait...something else totally bad ass is that I am one of 20 or so that found and snagged a spot in a forensics course secretly cross-listed with sociology. how sweet is that? my advisor patted me on the back...she didn't even know it was there...she was looking at my capp and she's like "I thought you were only going to take 4 classes next semester but you have another one on here" and me I'm all pround and grinning "heck yea that forensic soc. course" and she's "what?" and starts checking and i'm thinking "oh shit what if it was all in my imagination and i only THINK i have this imaginary class...then not only do i not get to take that class, but it also means I'm completely neurotic", but then you know, she's up at me with a big grin too "well good for you girl" ....she's from ethiopia so maybe their humor isn't as pervasive on screen, but it was funny the way she said it...shes usually really straitfaced and monotone. Insert sigh of relief. No looney bin for me.

Yet.

But I think I've inadvertantly recruited a few who might let me just live in schizophrenic bliss in their basement (beit amongst thousands of bags of recyclables) when I finally loose the last of my marbles. If all else fails and I can't fly away (from people in white suits bearing syringes) on my unicorn steed, at least my brother might dig me a hole under my moms house...since she doesn't have a basement--and shes one of the two recruits. I just volunteered her.


I came upon REMs out of time album on Waynes mac the other day. So that's what I'm listening 2.


"...linger on your pale blue eyes"


that's what I do...ages of you

this is Rachel, signing off.

This is not a bill.

The new Bradley Library where my mom works had their grand opening this morning. I got up early but was still later than planned for breakfast at the cute little Cafe 222 nook a block from moms house. Then I went to the library and saw mom and had the grand tour. Its REALLY nice. The whole shabang was almost 30 million. That's a rounded number because I can't remember if mom said 25 or 28. I mean it's REAL nice. If you (assuming other people than me come to my blog) ever visit Columbus, or if you already live here, go there. Be amazed.

Blogging has become something I've had to try to define to several different people recently. And I dont know if I'm getting closer or farther away from an accurate working definiton. I mean, what IS it? A place where we talk about whats on our minds, but not the same as email...some of us just post humor...some of us make our blogs tributes..."my love is building a building"...some of us get ourselves into lots of trouble by putting not so smart comments on other peoples blogs...but I enjoy it for the most part. Blogging, that is. Thanks Blogger.

The weather is gorgeous. It was nearly 80 all day yesterday. Or at least it felt like it. It was probably more like 76, but there again with a bit of a rounding action, viola`, 80 degrees at your service. I changed the oil and air filters in both our Hondas, fixed moms off-track window, cussed a lot, and washed and waxed my car. AND discovered my mother has run over something (again) and broken the exhaust pipe leading into her muffler. I started her car and it sounded like it had a souped up exhaust system in it, you know, the hurt bumble bee effect, and I thought "surely not MY mom, surely not, please no" and so me being the genius I am, got out and went to the back of the car and leaned right over in front of the exhaust to listen. Consequently I administered myself a face full of fumes. I quickly scanned my surroundings to make sure no one saw the incredibly brainless thing I just did, then turned the car off and reexamined it's underbelly to find the broken pipe. So until she has it fixed, my mother is an extra-polluting hurt bumble bee driver. Joseph suggested I buy her a "FlowMaster" sticker and put it on the back window. Hah.

Back to the weather. Today seems a little cooler, but still very nice. Over pancakes I fiddled with a crossword and discussed with Mr. Strickland the flowering Camillias (sp) and the importance of bees, and why this kind of weather tricks them into eating all their winter food and venturing out for flowers that aren't here yet, only to find that it's still winter, and they're out of food. But this kind of weather also reminds me of spring time and how much I enjoy the coming of spring in Columbus, Georgia.

Yesterday mom informed me with a sigh that we're (she and I) moving out west and getting good jobs to pay off her debt. Then we're coaxing her parents out to El Paso, TX, abandoning the remaining neurotics of our family, and becoming happy people. I'm glad one of us has a plan. I guess I'll be seeing all you cartoons in the southwestern funnies.

I guess it's about that time.

"No one, not even the rain, has such small hands."
e.e.cummings

two thousand and five mirror images

I survived the holiday scramble. And now have returned to my little blog...that I have neglected for a while now because theres no internet where I've been. Hah. No, really. Anyway, my Christmas was good. The family was cheerful and thankfully saved the drama until after dinner and presents were opened, but all seems to be ok there for all intensive purposes (as long as they leave the Barnes out I'm fine, and they can peck and scratch to the end amongst themselves). I'm sure we all have that from time to time. Sadly. It's just too bad that some people are so so SO incredibly petty. Nuf said.
Last night, new years eve, we were at Waynes and had a big crowd of people and everyone was happy and drunk and we all hugged and kissed and cheered in the new year. So it was a great time for all of us.
Waynes friends Craig and Ashlee are up and I just returned from eating with them at the Indian Resturant...a new development in Columbus that we hope lasts but theres a curse or something here that keeps anything different or cultural out (besides the chinese buffets, because they're everywhere, and I dont consider them cultural at all, do people really think they eat like Americans in the east? gimme a break).
Anyway, the curse is called old money and tradition. I think George Bush would love it here. When we moved here from Woodruff it was like jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but at least we're out of the pan, thank God. And once in the fire you can crawl out easily, so I'm enjoying myself in Atlanta.
Speaking of...I was talking to Kev last night about how much I love where I live. There are a lot of places that I would like to spend some time in, like Savannah and areas of north Georgia...but in Atl we're within and hour of anything. And that, my friends, is cool runnings.
Hokay...so, anyway. My new year is off to a great start so far. The weekend is almost over, which means Monday is closer, and Monday one of my favorite people in the world is flying into Hartsfield International Airport around 6pm. Yay :) I'm wondering if I can convince him to go see The Fockers with me. Hah. God I've waited SO LONG for the movie to come out. At last, it is with us.
I hope everyone had a happy 2005, and I hope everyone drank a lot and has as bad a headache as I do right now. Mwahahah.
Peace-