| Go, Go, PokeRangers |
[27 Aug 2009|10:45am] |
| [ |
music |
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Gabriel & Dresden - Closer |
] |
After work yesterday, I went to go visit Nae, as she was working, too. I was considering the possibility yesterday, then on the phone with her, saying goodnight, I slipped and said "see you tomorrow," instead of "talk to you tomorrow." She, of course, instantly caught this and went, "Ahh, ahh, you said 'see!'" I tried to play it off with a joke about a giant telescope, but it was too late. Ah well, guess they can't all be surprises.
While at work, I looked up an alternate route of getting to the Brunswick Square mall, as I figured driving all the way home and going the way I normally do would be rather superfluous. Naturally, I was a bit nervous while actually driving these roads I'd never steered through before, but ultimately I wasn't very concerned. This is great! I embarked on a new driving challenge, and wasn't even that intimidated by it! I dare say, I am getting better at this.
I left right after work, circa 4:30 pm, in hopes of catching Nae when she got off at 6. I thought, I should leave myself time to adjust for any potential mishaps in traveling (several alternate routes were mapped out, just in case), and that I must account for rush hour traffic. Mostly, I wanted to get a good head start on the trek, lest I experience the horror and defeat of getting to the mall after Nae went home. I figured she might linger a bit today, what with the clue she uncovered on the phone the previous night, but still, I did not want to chance anything.
I arrived an hour early.
So I walked around a bit, visited a few shops, but didn't want to miss her if she left work a bit early, for one reason or another. As such, I placed myself on a bench near her store about 5:30ish - I had my laptop and whatnot in a bag with me, so I didn't want to stand with it the whole time. However! The bench I usually sit on in these situations, the one safely outside the field of vision of anyone inside Nae's store, was not there!
That left me sitting someplace where Nae could see me. That left me sitting someplace that Nae did see me. Heheh - again, they can't all be surprises. She had an inkling I'd be showing up anyhow, and I certainly could not disappoint. Also, it was cute seeing her start to get excited, then try to hold it back as she returned to showing customers things.
Once she was released from retail servitude, I took out my laptop and showed her some GameCueb2 images she inspired. I wasn't sure which way to go with one of the photoshops, marking the first time I ever had a quandary in composition with one of these absurdities. She picked a clear winner, and I went with it.
Though we didn't have much time to play with, we ended up having a shitload of fun, just being all giddy and silly, running around, playing, doing silly poses, stealing my hat, et cetera. It was great - and I can't wait for school to begin again.
Former versions of me, ages six through sixteen, are all going "WHAAAAAAAAA" right now. It's 'cause I have a girlfriend, guys!
Ages twelve through sixteen are going, "Ohhhhhhh."
I drove home from the mall, nice and leisurely, as I am wont to do. Entering my home, my parents inform me that my new glasses are ready! BUT, I probably won't have time to get them today.
"Oh, when do they close?" I asked.
"Seven thirty," mother said. I looked at the clock - 7:12 or so.
"Well, I'll go right now! Do I need anything?"
"Uh, well, you need the claim ticket," father said, producing said slip of paper.
"Whoooosh," I said. Not with my mouth, but with my entire body quickly disappearing out the door, and the air rushing in to take my place.
I arrived in a timely fashion and received my new spectacles, leaving the establishment several minutes before closing. And holy shit, I could SEE THINGS! Signs at great distances were suddenly CLEAR to me! I had to adjust to not adjusting my eyes.
On the way home, I kept reading signs and getting excited about it.
Once arriving home, I noticed that I got a package in the mail. A birthday present from Zee! As half the fun in giving someone a present is hearing their reaction to it, I called her so she could experience my response - but she didn't pick up. I left a voice mail instructing her to "do better," and then I got some food.
Called Nae, we talked a good long while, wonderful discussion and fun times. She had to do some chores, and I was getting tired, so we said goodnight, and before long I was drifting off to sleep. Then Zee calls me back.
I opened the box and was treated to three Engrish books! Well, technically, one Engrish book and two Chinglish books - but issallgood.
Then I went back to sleep and had a dream I went to work and started typing shit on my LiveJournal. It's a weird dream, these children keep screaming in the background. I mean, I'm in a school in the dream, but it's a college. I'm not sure if it's hyper-laughter or slaughter-screams. At one point I heard a buzzing, whirring sound. Might be slaughter-screams.
Oh well - see you all when I wake up!
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| NIN WIN |
[24 Aug 2009|09:05pm] |
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mood |
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Tired |
] |
| [ |
music |
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Nine Inch Nails - 1,000,000 |
] |
Saw Nine Inch Nails in the City last night. It feels redundant to type this, but it was FUCKING AWESOME. I'd think that much would be clear by my first sentence, but you never know. Some people are a little slow on the uptake.
It was at Webster Hall, a smaller venue - MUCH smaller than the previous two times I saw NIN. First time was at PNC, at the front edge of the lawn. That's an amphitheater. Second time was some place up in Massachusetts, an indoor arena type spot, and I stood against the back wall of the place. This time was general admission only, standing on the floor, about midway through the crowd. I could actually see Trent Reznor. I could see the expressions on his face. I could see some of the equipment he was using. It was fucking awesome.
The crowd was FAR superior to the one at my last small venue show, The Birthday Massacre and Mindless Self Indulgence down in Baltimore. That crowd was full of assholes. This one was cool.
NIN played "The Downward Spiral." Yes, the song, but also the album. They started off with "Mr. Self Destruct" and went through the entire track list, including "A Warm Place" - marking the first time it's ever been played and, reportedly, only time it'll ever be played live. This being the last leg of their final tour, that's an easy promise to keep. Same statement applies to playing "The Downward Spiral" in its entirety onstage.
After "Hurt," they went right into another set, this time of assorted songs, more typical of a normal show, clocking in at about two hours of just NIN playing alone. It was so fucking awesome.
So very fucking awesome.
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[21 Aug 2009|09:36pm] |
I expected to get new glasses and a new guitar today. I only got one of the two - keep reading to find out!
OOH SUSPENSE
Eye exam was at 2:30, though they requested my presence at 2:15 so that I might fill out paperwork that, as it turns out, takes all of two minutes. We arrived at 2:10.
Got my eyes checked out, and yes, they are more out of whack than they were seven years ago. I knew this, yet hearing it from a physician made me feel regrettably old. I perused the frame selection, carefully narrowing down what worked for me, and got a set that was okay. I was hoping for better, but I suppose they'll do. Eh. They are green, however. I like that.
Unfortunately, it will take "two to three business days" to acquire my new spectacles. The nurse/receptionist did, however, tighten up my current pair of glasses, and even put on nose-rest-thingies. One had fallen off, mysteriously, so I removed the other to balance it out. This was all done without my request, and I found it quite nice. Though I didn't leave with new glasses, it kind of feels like I did.
Oh shit, there goes the suspense, huh.
Well, my impression of the plans set forth for the day were that my mother and I, at the very least, would go to Guitar Center after she got off of work, and I'd pick out my main birthday present. However, my father informed me that she might be going to dinner with a friend after work. So maybe I can go tomorrow?
Yeah, I didn't need my mommy with me, but I thought it'd be nice if she were present for my present, y'know?
And yeah, waiting an extra day isn't excruciating, but it just sort of set me off, I hadn't been dealing with disappointment all too well, lately. As many lovely victories as there have been, there've been just as many losses. I enjoyed the victories so much that any semblance of a loss was felt much more strongly.
My mother had given my father some money before leaving, an amount that would equal half the price of the guitar I wanted, as per the agreement on this pricey gift. This was done as my mother also thought I could be able to get it myself, if so desired. I decided, yeah, I'll do that.
It was a bit unceremonious and drab, but I got my guitar. Drove into a storm to do so, too. It was neat.
I have a Fender Stratocaster HSS, also known as a Fat Strat. It is, indeed, an actual Fender product, and not a Squier, the "budget brand" of Fender. I had a Squire Bullet Strat since late 2004, and the difference is palpable in many ways. I love the feel of this thing, the sound of it, the possibilities it holds, and it's whammy bar. It is a thing of beauty.
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| I was born, once, around this time! Love me for it! |
[20 Aug 2009|08:31pm] |
My birthday has offered a bizarre selection of wonderful victories and bitter defeats. I will list them following the paragraph break.
-The party I planned isn't happening. The only real, definite answer I received was from John. Which means, of course, John is a better friend than you all. Do better, people.
-I did, however, get to see Nae on my actual date of birth, which almost didn't happen, but she came through for me. This was very important, and very wonderful. We saw District 9, it was awesome.
-Alas, Nae was unable to join the traditional family dinner tonight, I guess that would've been pushing it. I really wanted her to come out for that, especially seeing as how she hasn't met any member of my family, and they'd all like to meet her, too. Still, the food was dee-licious. I had been looking forward to that meal for a year, and it was well worth the wait.
-Entirely randomly, I managed to score NINE INCH NAILS TICKETS for THIS SUNDAY. Hell to the motherfucking YES. This is why Twitter is actually useful! Oh, and the whole Iranian thing.
fuckin' NAIIILLSSSSS MANNNNN
WHOOOOOOOOOOO
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| It ain't fate/it's just hindsight, baby |
[10 Aug 2009|05:24pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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Carnivorous |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Franz Ferdinand - Turn It On |
] |
I surprised Nae after she got out of work again yesterday. I love doing that. Over and over, I will replay her reaction to seeing me standing there, how she'll go from a bit blarghy to ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC and run and hug me with a squee. I love it.
I gave her another mix CD that I had put together a number of days ago, as I was hoping to hang out with her at the Middlesex County Fair, but that never happened. It ended up having very negative consequences to how we were feeling, so I wanted to do something to turn our moods around. I do think I succeeded.
We hung out at the mall a bit - got frappuchino thingies, did some shopping, walked around, enjoyed each other's company - that sort of thing. A bit short lived, but I just needed to freakin' see her.
Afterward I went to John's to work on music, but he was in a lazy mood that evening, so not a great deal got done. I mean, hell, even when he turned on the Wii to play Ghostbusters, he didn't even play a mission - just walked around, or tried to dance, and gave up. I did write the basic guitar parts to a fake band song, and hopefully we'll resume progress tonight, barring any further tiredness or laziness issues.
I'm certainly rather tired, as I worked today on not-enough-sleep, as usual. Well, except for the working on a Monday part - that's because my boss just had a baby (not himself, but y'know), and so I'm filling in for maybe the rest of the month. The workload is very light, however, so for the most part I'm just hanging out on the computer or reading and listening to music.
My job rocks.
But I'm not planning on letting my tiredness impede me from doing what I want to do, which is make some freakin' music. I've just got that itch lately, I want to experiment with weird sounds, I want to do something funky. We're actually working on a funk song, matter of fact. So fuck if my body's tired, I want to write and record music!
I just hope John feels the same way.
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| I got a stuffed zucchini! |
[08 Aug 2009|03:14am] |
| [ |
music |
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Muse - Hysteria |
] |
Not stuffed with foods. It's a plush zucchini. The hostess at the Diner gave it to me after John, Kelly and I remarked upon it. Apparently it was hung behind the register in honor of a waiter, nicknamed zucchini, who left the establishment. Apparently, the hostess was not fond of this waiter.
John accidentally spilled his glass of water all over the table and his pants. Several good mom jokes were made. I got chocolate cake. Kelly told a splendid tale of verbal ass-kicking at work. I made a joke that I found more funny than anyone else, and now I can't even remember what it was after every other joke we made.
John drove me home and we sat around talking in his car a good long while. I love Diner nights.
Other remarkable instances of the past week or three I haven't updated:
Annual Armory dinner, starring me, Kelly, John, Nicole, Suanne and Perry. I went to meet everyone at Kelly's as planned, then was informed by Kelly that we were meeting at John's a half hour later. She let me in anyhow, and called John to just meet us there regardless, as apparently Nicole wasn't coming. This pissed both of us off, as none of us had seen Nicole since January, and she was home from Chile for only two weeks. In addition, Kelly rescheduled the dinner three times so she and her boyfriend could make it. Mike apparently had no intention of coming, and Nicole wasn't coming because she was at the beach. Fortunately, she ended up being able to get a ride to the Armory from her friend. This was a very good thing, as not showing up would've been a dick move.
The dinner was good, not quite as good as past years, but holy shit, filet mignon wrapped in bacon is mighty heavenly any and every time. We walked around the waterfront for a bit afterward, and I really, really wish I could have brought Nae with me. It was very nice, thought it would've been nice and romantic if she'd been there with me. Also wished I could have her meet all my friends, show her off to them, all that jazz. Sigh.
Nicole came home with me and John, and we got lost on the way. Oh, Jersey. Still fun, though.
Surprised Nae at work again, this time with a mix CD. However, I initially tried to surprise her on a Saturday and got stuck in traffic on fucking 18. Got to the EB mall maybe 20 minutes late. Grrr.
So I tried again the next day, left much earlier, and of course there was no traffic at all. Got there 20 minutes early, gave her a hug and a CD. We hung out for a bit, good stuff. Also met her mom for the second time when she and her sister came to meet her at the mall to shop around. They left us alone for a bit, then I decided to bow out and let the family shop. Still, it felt good to not run and hide the fact that I visited her at work.
Both times after driving to the EB mall, I went to Guitar Center afterward. John met me the first time, when I failed to catch Nae, and I went alone the second. Also, the first time I went, I visited Russ at work, then looked around the mall while waiting for John to call back. While doing so, a couple randomly approached me. The guy pretty much just said, "Hello." He just starts talking to me. Apparently they were surprised/impressed with the fact that I was walking around in a top hat and tie, you don't see that sort of thing often, and decided to talk to me. How incredibly random, I thought, but we ended up talking a bit. The discussion ranged from chocolate to the existence of God to my comic idea in the span of maybe fifteen minutes, then said goodbye. Incredibly random.
So's that. Funny conversations with your girlfriend and photoshop will produce lovely results.
I bought Rogue Leader for GameCube and a GameCube controller recently, as I had wanted that game since it came out. Never had a GameCube, but we do have a Wii, and it is backwards compatible, so I went for it. Enjoying the game, but I apparently also need a GameCube memory card to save my progress. Evidently, the onboard memory of the Wii isn't good enough. It's fucking data - why can't you just store it someplace else? Phah. There are codes to unlock all the levels anyhow, but still, phah.
If anyone has either a time machine or a teleporter, please let me know. I don't know if you knew this about me, but I'd very much like to have these devices.
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| Turns out I'm a vampire! |
[25 Jul 2009|05:15am] |
| [ |
mood |
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Video Gamey |
] |
| [ |
music |
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Super Mario Galaxy - Gusty Garden Galaxy |
] |
In one of those near-insomniatic modes again. It's nocturnalism more than sleeplessness, but the sun will rise and I still won't desire to slumber. A classic sense of having an entire world's worth of things I could be doing - why the fuck would I want to lie around unconscious?
I like these modes.
I'd been staying up later and later, and this was not looking good for my weekly work day, which sees my alarm set for seven am every Wednesday. So, in classic me-fashion, rather than try to pull my bedtime back to a reasonable hour, I instead stayed up as late as possible Monday night, so as to wake up super late on Tuesday (8 pm) and stay up through Tuesday night and into Wednesday. Came home and crashed on something like 22 1/2 hours of awakeness, and took a three hour nap. Then was up until 2 or 3 in the morning and slept for maybe 12-14 hours, who's counting.
Work was fun, though! 'Cept maybe for the disassembling and moving of the giant fucking kiln with a stone slab of Herculean proportions on it. But a decent amount of the time was spent just talking with my boss. We ended the day discussing music, going on Pandora and YouTube and showcasing tunes. It was frickin' awesome.
Oh, and someone burnt chocolate in a microwave and stank up half of Edison Hall. We ended up just going for a walk to escape it. There's some cooking camp class thingamajoe for kids during the summer, turns out. I overheard the teacher while on lunch break, being one room over, and heard a typical recipe being read off.
"blahdeblah and blahdoblah in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Well, we don't have those, so we'll mix the ingredients in a bowl and microwave it."
Um? That's not cooking?
Kind of disappointed in myself for not keeping up on this thing. The other week saw a particularly fun and adventurous day which, even at the time, was being logged in my mind as a future LJ entry. Yet some minor malady of the mind would always overtake me just at the moment when I thought, "Hrm, I could write a post about now."
So let's make up for that!
It was, oh, two or three Saturdays ago. John has been keen on starting a new band, separate from What's That Sound?, with the intent of doing some form of progressive metal. He wants it to be a full band that can play live, not just a recording project. Basically, a departure from what we had been doing. So, naturally, I was on board.
Finding others was a trick.
But, at one point, he came into contact with both a drummer and bassist. John wanted to sing only, and I was defaulted to drummer, assuming guitarists would be easier to find, even though we both preferred to have me on guitar and keys. I like making funkier, more interesting sounds that way. So! We met with these fellows, Matt and Rich on drums and bass, respectively, and arranged a practice at Matt's house. They decided on a song to play to showcase John's vocal range, "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots. I spent a few days learning it, and first thing off the bat at practice, we played through the song. No false starts, no major screw ups - no amazing feats of musicality, either, but for four guys that never played together entirely before, that's fucking impressive. Granted, John and I have been doing shit for a while, and so had Matt and Rich, they'd been in a few bands together - but still, I was very pleased it went so well.
The rest of practice was spent writing a new song, based off a bass line (Haw haw) John wrote yearrrrrss ago, but never knew what to do with. We ended up a few hours later with something rather cool! And that was just the start of things! However, Rich apparently had places to be, so practice ended. John and I had no plans, so we arranged to get something to eat. I drove my car to his house, as I didn't want to leave my vehicle full of gear (guitar, amp, synth, and bookbag full of pedals, cables, and other musical accoutrements) in a fast food parking lot. We got in his car and took off for the Stelton Food Court.
Except, I didn't feel like eating anything they had to offer. In this particular instance, I was sick of everything around us. At least, everything in my immediate price range. John had called Kelly to see if she was up for things as well, but no answer. I joked that we should just go to Sonic, which is, at it's closest, in PA. This was part wishful thinking, but ultimately in jest. So, left to our own indecisive devices, we drove aimlessly. This is common practice for John and I.
We drove, hoping to find something different and relatively enticing, but we found nothing. We drove in many myriad directions, to the point of complete lostitude, and finally entered a strip mall with a Papa John's, a Chinese place, and "HFC Chicken." We pondered what the H stood for.
"Hoboken Fried Chicken?" I volunteered.
"But we're not in Hoboken... I don't think," John replied.
"Yeah, but we have KFCs and we're not in Kentucky."
John then compulsively checked his Blackberry, and noticed Kelly had called back. Twice.
He returned the call(s).
"Hey, you doing anything? Rob and I are bored and looking for someplace to eat."
"Ooh, what about Sonic?"
"Haha, that's what Rob said."
"Dude, we should totally do it!"
"Actually, they opened a Sonic up near where I work..."
"Ooh, yeah!"
"Alright, want us to come get you, then we'll drive there?"
"Okay, sure!"
"Alright, be there in... um... well, first we gotta figure out where we are. Um... how long did it take us to get here?"
I look at the clock, bewildered.
"Ten minutes?" John asks.
"Longer than that," I postulate.
"We'll be there in like, fifteen, twenty minutes. Just gotta find out how to get there."
"Haha, okay, cool."
It did not take us twenty minutes - for New Jersey is made of wormholes, bad signs and bad decisions. It took us closer to fifty minutes.
But! We finally got to Kelly's and made off for Sonic. Now, John had only heard about this new location, he hadn't actually laid eyes on it. So this was a forty-five minute drive for yet another hunt.
By this point, we were very hungry.
We knew what route it was supposed to be on, and traversed the road with eyes peeled.
"Are you sure it's finished?" Kelly asked, muffled by the backseat effect.
"Yes," John replied. "I'm sure it's from Finland."
"Ha ha," Kelly said.
We passed many furniture stores on this road, whose number escapes me all these weeks later. I'm gonna say it was a forty-something. Maybe six. Forty six. That sounds good. So, it was a furniture shopping paradise. At one point we passed a Norwegian furniture establishment.
"Norwegian?" We noted. "That's near Finland. We must be getting close!"
However, the sweet sight of Sonic still eluded us. John tossed Kelly his Blackberry, asking her to look up the location online, just to be sure. Alas, as per usual, the robots caused technological hang-ups at that moment, slowing the internet to a crawl that would bore a snail. And, as is typical, the very moment Kelly finally found relevant information on the device, we saw Sonic ahead of us, glowing neon glory in plain sight.
We cheered in victory, but those cheers were cut short when we noticed what appeared to be a line of cars leading to the fast foody goodness. We couldn't even pull into the parking lot off the road at first. There were cops directing traffic.
This is what happens when you advertise tasty foods for three fucking years before opening a restaurant.
We finally pull up to the cop trying to manage this clusterfuck, and this is what he told us:
"Sorry, lot's full. You'll have to try again another time. You can make a U-turn here."
...
We were fucking shocked. Stunned. Flabbergasted. The fucking cop just told us we can not haz. I remarked, "Wha... what happened to America? That - that's not supposed to happen! The cop just told us we can't eat at Sonic! What gives, man?"
Then we remembered, oh yeah, we were in Finland.
Fuck you, Finland.
However! Kelly remarked that she had seen an establishment called "Five Guys" on the way - a burger place that John has mentioned in high regard. He will occasionally get lunch there whilst at work. He asked if either of us had been there, and the unanimous reply was "No."
"You mean you're both Five Guys virgins?"
"I should hope so!" I said.
Again, this was another scavenger hunt, but we located it - and were allowed to partake in their foodstuffs, even! It wasn't SOLD OUT or anything!
And, turns out, it was REALLY FUCKING GOOD. The cheeseburger I ordered was juicy and tender, but not an overwhelming, lumpy behemoth. I could taste the cheese! It made a difference! Even the fries were delicious! Also, we got free peanuts. As much as we wanted!
Peanuts!
Highly recommended, this place. The cashier wanted to take a picture of my duct tape wallet for his girlfriend. Unrelated in my recommendation, but felt like throwing the detail in.
We wanted to go out for ice cream afterward, but the Cold Stone nearby was closed, so we ended up in a Wendy's getting various Frosty concoctions. I got a Frostychino! Again, I would recommend this.
The ride home was a tad perilous, however, as a torrential downpour poured, um, down on us. With lightning and thunder, as well! This was heavy rain, folks. Super heavy. Mega heavy. The heaviest. It didn't rain cats and dogs, it was tigers and wolves. It came down in sheets, in blankets, in down comforters, in piles of snuggies. John's wipers could not wipe fast enough.
But hey, we didn't die and made it home safely! Yay, happy endings!
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[05 Jul 2009|02:09am] |
| [ |
mood |
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shitty |
] |
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music |
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Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees |
] |
Dear LiveJournal,
This Fourth of July, I tried to do some fun things that ended up blowing up in my face, resulting in a lasting pain and a bunch of cliched advice from my parents and friends.
I almost wish I had a firework explode on me instead.
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| Sheep gravy! |
[25 Jun 2009|07:16pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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My middle finger hurts. Wahh. |
] |
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music |
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Stolen Babies - Push Button |
] |
I've worked every day this week so far, though I'm not working tomorrow. Most I've worked is two days in a row before this. For the most part, it was just fine! A little boring, in fact! My boss was on vacation, so I mostly just got to sit in one of the offices and listen to the Cort and Fatboy show or watch Invader Zim.
Today, however, I mixed glazes for ceramics classes. Glaze after glaze after glaze. The teacher had a list of requests, and most of that shit was halfway if not three-quarters full. Totally unnecessary, and near impossible for me to finish by today. Yesterday I mixed engobes. They're something you use to paint clay things, I guess. I don't even really know. But I never want to mix another fucking glaze again.
At least not until next week!
One thing that was cool, though, was one of the glazes was blood-red. It felt like I was playing with a big ol' bucket of blood! Wheee!
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| I'm eating mini-mini-wheats. |
[21 Jun 2009|11:15am] |
| [ |
music |
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Atom and His Package - Upside Down From Here |
] |
Went to the Diner two nights ago with John. Actually haven't been there in a while, and they missed us. We missed them, too. John is super-motivated to start a progressive metal band, with huge aspirations and goals tied to the project. I was immediately on board, and we discussed music in great detail, as we often do. I always like it when someone else has ridiculously lofty aims for a project, because I identify with that, and I feel that if you get more than one dreamer working on something, that it could actually happen.
Yesterday I surprised Nae when she got off of work, showing up unannounced with hand-picked roses. She was incredibly happy about this. I keep mentally rewinding back to that moment where she saw me, and turned from tired and blarghy to excited and overjoyed. It's freakin' fantastic. We were able to hang out for a little bit before her stomach threatened to implode and she had to report home, but it was still very nice.
Today, for Father's Day, I'm planning on taking my dad to the movies to see Star Trek. It's quite fortunate that the film is still running. My dad was certainly something of a Trekkie in his day, but just about never goes out to the movies, and I felt like doing something this year instead of just giving him something. So hopefully that'll go well - it'll be my third time seeing it, so I'm fairly certain that the movie itself will be good. Pretty sure they didn't print it on that genre-degrade filmstock, where after twenty showings it begins to devolve into a predictable romantic comedy, or a parody film that is so full of fail, you feel yourself leaking brain cells out the ears the moment you're made aware of its existence.
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| Ketchup time! |
[08 Jun 2009|10:03pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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Uberosity! |
] |
| [ |
music |
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Gackt - Illness Illusion |
] |
So, I got a diploma last week.
Associates in Fine Arts - Music, with honors. My mother remarked, "Wow, with honors! How'd you do that?"
I replied, "By being awesome."
Last week I attended two birthday parties - one for Nae, one for John, in that order. Friday night was Nae and Ryan at Wasabi's off 18. We got sushi, dumplings and ice cream dumpling things - and ATE IT ALL. This is an accomplishment for the three of us. Gave Nae a re-burnt CD of the "Influence Mix" I gave her back when we formed a band two semesters ago, which was jacked when someone stole her stereo. Also gave her a Han Solo figure, and a twenty page storybook I made called "Babeh Bee's Birthday Adventure!" Babeh Bee is a baby bee that turns into Angry Bee when evil robots try to straighten the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Robots want everything plain and boring. But they die, and Angry Bee becomes happy, thus transforming back into Babeh Bee.
Saturday was John's party at Kelly's place. I arrived a bit early to see yet another Awesome Kellycake (which I just made up and she needs to trademark immediately) being finished by Kelly, her sister Brenda and Suanne. John arrived late, but not late enough, as the cake was taking time (craftsmanship!), so I was sent to stall him. This involved a brief bout of physical blocking and running.
Kelly also cooked dinner, which was delicious as always. We ate that, then moved into the living room to play a game. This game involved thinking up a song which has a certain word in its lyric, then singing it. Two teams played, split as guys versus girls. Dassia came in the middle of the game, as did one of Kelly's house mates, who was male but whose name I am blanking on, unfortunately. The teams would go back and forth singing snippets of songs until one was stumped.
We won.
After that was cake, of the peanut butter and chocolate variety. It was win.
After cake was Pit. It's the stock market card game which isn't really about the stock market, but about yelling out numbers. That's always fun, too.
This past Friday I saw Star Trek with Nae again. It was a rainy, blargy day, and options were limited. It was frustrating. So we decided to just go to the movies again. That's when I realized, wait, my girlfriend wants to see Star Trek. Again.
HOLY SHIT THAT'S AWESOME.
The movie was enjoyable once again! HOWEVER. There was a very strange, unnerving man in attendance. We were in a smaller theatre, as the film has been out for more than a week, and it had a single aisle. This man, siting far up in the front, chose to ascend through the seats, awkwardly pinned against the wall, not using the aisle steps. Okay, maybe he was far to the left and didn't want to interrupt anyone's view. He crawls to the back and exits. Nae and I, we're in the back-most seats, just two seats next to an open area, presumably for wheelchairs.
So, this man returns, but instead of going back to his seat, merely stands in the aforementioned wheelchair space. Just standing there, watching the movie, off to our right. This alone would be somewhat unnerving, but then this man exhaled SO LOUDLY. Every time! It was all the pressure his lungs could muster, exploding out of his nostrils. His mouth, I'm guessing, was welded shut, and he would deflate his entire chest cavity, sinuses, and probably some bizarre bellows surgically grafted to his stomach, ALL THROUGH HIS NOSE. And I could hear it. I could hear it over the movie! This is a loud movie, and all I could hear was his goddamn carbon dioxide being loosed onto the world. I couldn't zone it out!
Then he crawled back along the wall and sat two seats in front of us. This was not his original location. But at least I didn't hear him breathe any more!
Dude was fucking unnerving.
Saturday, John and I had band practice, making major progress towards the completed recording of the first track of our next album, and making significant strides in writing the second. This is a melody I have had written for some five or so years, yet had no idea how to write anything to it. That hurdle has been overcome! Whoo!
After this, we ate Taco Bell, and then drove to the EB Mall to meet Nae for a bit! This was the first time Nae and John met face to face, and it went well! John approved. Huzzah!
Also, things are uber-friggin-tastic and unbelievably synced in perfection. Yay!
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| I actually like my job so far! |
[27 May 2009|04:44pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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Sickly |
] |
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music |
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Vast - Touched |
] |
Yesterday was my first day working at the art department at Middlesex. It's a "College Work Study" program, so it's pretty much, "pay student minimum wage to perform menial tasks." Except, I kind of dig it!
As I alluded to earlier, the atmosphere is SCHWAY different than Target, and I couldn't be happier about that. I basically deal with only one person, my "boss," Bryan. He's the studio coordinator, but is so nice, lenient and understanding that the title "boss" does not feel appropriate. On the topic of working hours alone, for instance:
The "official" time I worked Tuesday was 8:30 to 4:30, with a half hour unpaid lunch at 12. In actuality, the only accurate part of that time sheet was the 12 o'clock lunch, which is funny, seeing as how he filled out the whole time sheet in the morning. I just happened to get hungry at twelve. I came in around 8:45ish, as was agreed upon before starting, and ended up leaving circa 4:12. My final project was going nowhere, so he said to just call it a day.
Not my fault, though! He asked me to look up art schools, or four year schools with art programs, and request brochures be sent to MCC so they'd have an updated batch. Turns out most colleges don't send shit out anymore, they just say, "Click here for our PDF!"
Other job duties that first day:
-Taking pottery projects out of a kiln and putting them on a countertop for a ceramics class meeting that morning.
-Scraping worn down coating off the shelves from the kilns, which was decent enough until the last one. That thing was a bitch.
-Reorganizing closets!
-Putting wet clay scraps onto drying blocks, and taking some clay which had undergone the appropriate drying process, "wedging" it (which is like kneading dough), and putting it back into a bin for students to later use and produce scraps from. The wet clay was super fuckin' messy, like mud. I thought to myself, "Ah, just go with it, be like a kid, playing in the dirt. Wait -- I never did that, even as a child. Well, no time like the present to start!"
-Stripping tape off of old silkscreens which hadn't been washed out properly, so as to throw away the ruined screen and leave the frame bare. I liked this, because I like taking things apart, but it did become a bit physically demanding after a while. There was much tape to peel, and it was stubborn in this role. Besides, I'm more used to sitting at a computer all day. Which leads me back to the final task,
-Looking up those collages. I was actually tired by this point, and I don't think I fully realized it until I was able to sit down. Oh well!
So the first day went pretty damn well! I went home and fell asleep too early, resulting in my awakening around 11-something, attempting to sleep once more around 1.
Oh, did I mention I'm sick, too?
Yeah, started out as a slight sore throat Sunday and Monday, which went away Tuesday! However, my nose began running like a Kenyan in New York, but I figured it could also be allergies (as living in Jersey long enough will yield such results) or from all the dust and shit that was kicked up during working. Well, turns out today I woke up sick and blarghy! Great! Just in time for my second day!
No way I was calling out so soon, so I went all the same. Turns out Bryan was feeling under the weather as well, and we decided that it was the weather itself to blame. He wasn't sure if he wanted to come in, either, but then didn't know how that would work out if he didn't show up, and I did. He asked if I was feeling up to working, and I said I was, at least for the time being.
First thing was cleaning out some shelves/cubbies that had some student work/random blocks of wood left in them. I was to place the items on a table to be sorted out later, and then wipe down the shelves so that they weren't so very dusty. And in this process, up on a stool, peeking over a very high shelf, I made a discovery:
A toy grabby arm!
Y'know, one of those plastic arms with the squeeze-activated pincers! I thought, "AWESOME. Oh man, I wonder if I could ask him to keep it? Ahh, I don't know... well, whatever, that's random and wonderful."
When I presented the discovery, Bryan said, "Oh wow, hahaha. Do you want it?"
"Uh, yeah! Sure!"
"It's just going to get thrown out anyway."
"Thanks! I've always wanted one."
The next task was more cubby-cleaning, this time for spaces reserved for painters. I was moving things in and out of these compartments, a bunch of little shit you don't actually care about anyhow, but one of the duties I was to perform was taking any bits of trash left in there, well, out. Of course.
Now, these painting cubby holes, they're narrow and deep, so as to accommodate the canvases on which paint is so liberally applied. As a result, when trash does get left in there, it gets pushed to the very back, beyond the reach of a normal human being.
But wait!
GRABBY ARM TO THE RESCUE. Oh, it was fuckin' perfect.
After this lengthy (HAH!) process was completed, I sought Bryan out, but he was off somewhere, doing something, I don't know what. So, I had a seat - and nodded off. I roused myself when I heard him in the hallway, and walked after him to receive my next task. However, I was still very groggy. When he asked if I was ready for the next little job, I said, "Maybe." It was in a jesting tone, but it was the honest truth. I suppose he recognized that fact, and asked how I was feeling. "A little drained," I said. So he said,
"Hrm... how about we do this. Why don't you call it a day, get some rest, and I'll just put down 12:30 on your timesheet."
I was feeling rather shitty, and figured for my own health, I shouldn't have been there exerting myself in the first place. So I said, "Um, alright. What time is it now?" I checked my phone. 10:11. "Well, alright then!"
"Just so it's not like you're losing a full day," he said to me. Man - this job fuckin' rocks.
Did I mention I got a free grabby arm, too? Fucking AWESOME.
And here's the kicker! I actually feel bad about not being able to work the full time. Yeah, it's unfortunate to still not get a full day's pay, even with the bonus of awesomeness, but I actually see results from my labors in this job! I mean, I've taken classes here for a while anyway, so I know what it's all going towards - but it's not like some bullshit where products come in and go out and more come in and it's a constant uphill struggle that feels utterly worthless. SO GLAD I'm not working retail.
Now, I just need to NOT BE SO FUCKING SICK.
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| Another one of these! |
[24 May 2009|01:56pm] |
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mood |
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Life is good |
] |
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music |
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Do As Infinity - Snail |
] |
Haven't posted in a while. The last week of the semester was bittersweet, in that Nae and I didn't know what challenges faced us with the summer, but we made the most of it.
Turns out, we've been seeing each other anyway!
The last week or so, before Friday, was probably the longest stretch of time we went without seeing each other since winter break, and that was hard. It definitely put me in a shitty mood, but that's over now - hence my posting! I mean, hell, on Friday we went to see Terminator Salvation, then yesterday we hung out, went to a park, fun stuff all around. So, yes, the tower still stands, but bricks have fallen.
I got a job! I start Tuesday, working at Middlesex in the art department. I'll just be doing menial tasks and such, but already I feel like it'll be a step up from Target. Here is an example why:
Setting things up, AT LONG LAST, with Bryan, the studio coordinator, he was coming up with my hours on the spot.
"So, we'll start with Tuesday at, oh, eight thirty to four thirty. Or, hrmm." He takes a moment, then scribbles out the 8:30 he had written on his calendar. "Okay, how about come in at eight forty-five, or..." He scribbles out the 8:45, and takes another moment. Then, he writes 8:30 down again. "Just come in around eight forty-five-ish or so, I mean, after the semester ends, even I can't get here on time. So, just come in like eight forty-five or so, and we'll just write down eight thirty on your time sheet. That sound okay?"
"Uh, yeah! Sure!"
There's a legally required unpaid thirty minute lunch, but he said if I need like a fifteen minute break, just take one. If I need the bathroom, just go whenever, if I want to grab a snack from the vending machine, go ahead. Already, before even starting, this job is far more laid back, understanding and human than Target. I am glad to not be working for a large retail corporation.
Doing a large recap forces the focus off of funny anecdotes and onto more major developments. I will maybe try to post more so I can write sarcastically on the minutia of my existence? I have a Twitter account, but it's just for jokes. I prefer to detail my existence in long form prose, still. Sorry, 21st century. I'm just a stubborn old coot like that.
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| I love this. |
[03 May 2009|08:48pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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So amazing. |
] |
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music |
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Nine Inch Nails - Beside You In Time |
] |
I'm eating ice cream right now. It's chocolate chocolate chip with hot fudge, hot peanut butter, and chocolate sprinkles.
That sums up today pretty nicely, I think.
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| No one can turn off the ocean. |
[02 May 2009|10:20pm] |
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mood |
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It's been erratic. |
] |
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music |
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Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees |
] |
The sickness left me. Guess it wasn't swine flu after all! Or maybe it was, and swine flu's not that big of a deal. Either way!
I returned to the Financial Aid department of Failed Hope and Misery, and was told I needed to fill out financial aid shiznit for the coming school year to be able to work in the summer. EVEN THOUGH THEY REQUESTED MY PRESENCE SPECIFICALLY. Shiznit was filled out, I returned for a THIRD helping of Failed Hope and Misery, and they said it'll take "a week" for it to process, and that they'll "contact me." I will follow up next week, IE the last week of classes, for my final blow of disappointment. Yay, bureaucracy.
I ran into that 14 year-old girl, like, four times in the past week. It's weird. She finally got my name right on the third time. This was when I ran into a friend of Nae's, Erin, while getting breakfast at school. I went to sit and eat with her, and then the little girl shows up, 'cause she knows Erin, too. Those creepy fucking puppets were right - it's a small world after all.
Nae and I got to finish the Star Wars saga nicely, actually securing a study room. No glare! No sun-beaten heat! No vultures looking for parking spaces! "ARE YOU LEAVING?" Yes. Me and my girlfriend are huddled around a laptop, because we just cannot roll without our Star Wars, yo.
Idiots.
However, we WERE interrupted by a very RUDE BITCH asking how much longer we'd be. I told her a while and she skidaddled. DAMN RIGHT, BEE-OTCH. Here's how it works, both for those rooms and parking spaces. You want an opening - this is understandable! However, in both cases, there is glass between me and you. You can see through the glass. Look through it and notice that there are PEOPLE THERE. Acknowledge this occupancy and MOVE THE FUCK ON. HOLY SHIT. JUST MOVE. JUST FUCKING MOVE. DEAR GOD IN MAKE-BELIEVE HEAVEN, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT, YOU HORRID PIECE OF HUMAN FILTH.
Kinda slipped into a bit of Homunculus, there. *Ahem.*
Nae really dug Revenge of the Sith. I was reminded why it's my favorite. Good times.
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| I like my cars like I like my mermaids: With big fins. |
[25 Apr 2009|11:57pm] |
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music |
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Bear McCreary - Prelude to War |
] |
I've been sick all week. I think it's been making me a tad bit irritable. There are people I want to punch in the fucking face.
Saw Sasquatch the other day. Gave me a fist pound and kept walking. Motherfucker's always acting like he's busy, but it's not like he has a job. And if he were trying to stay hidden, then why's he walking around Jersey?
I might have a job at school, like they promised me last September, except it wouldn't start until the summer. Dunno if that means SUMMER summer or just after classes end. Still, COME ON, GUYS. I went to the Financial Aid Department of Misery and Failed Hope to get this sorted out, as the Art Department has requested ME, PERSONALLY, but they were closed on Fridays.
Misery and Failed Hope, people. I'll be back for seconds on Monday.
Had a dream I met Charlie Chaplin as a ghost. Woke up and found the ghost of Hitler in my room, dressed up as Charlie Chaplin. I grabbed my proton pack and was rid of the terrible apparition. Ghost Hitler is so lonely.
Was in my radio class Tuesday, waiting to record some weather report bullshit, when I could not stand the conversation around me. Rather than punching motherfuckers in the fucking face (bear in mind, I was sick), I walked outside. This is common practice, as students will take to the halls to practice their reads. I ended up squat against a wall, all sicky-like, when a girl walked by for a second time and asked if I was alright. We ended up making conversation, and she ended up being a 14 year-old home-schooled child that took classes at MCC. I didn't know that was possible. How random.
Renae and I have finished The Phantom Menace, and are now on Attack of the Clones. Our breaks aren't always accommodating to a full cinematic viewing, and we often have to watch in the car on this laptop. This is far below optimal. The sun does horrible things all the time. However, she is becoming quite the Star Wars nerd, and I couldn't be happier. I mean, she owns a plastic lightsaber, has had discussions with her mom about where she was when the first one came out, and a dream in which Chewbacca volunteered to give her a ride to my house. That's fucking awesome.
I was cornered into "volunteering" to do traffic reports at the school radio station, because participation in it is a requirement of the radio course. It's our "lab," he tells us. It's free labor, I say. I was supposed to start on Thursday, but when I reminded him to show me what to do, he thought I was signing up for the first time. Since he forgot I existed and was supposed to do anything, I figured the station's survival wasn't hinged on my involvement that afternoon. Still being full of the sick, I opted to do two days next week and go home. I hadn't eaten since 8 that morning. It was 3:30. The shift was 4-6. I would have died. I might have died on air, which would have made headlines, except it's not even a real radio station. They're streaming only. No one would have cared.
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| Experimental Poetry |
[10 Apr 2009|09:46am] |
| [ |
mood |
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Something far beyond lucky. |
] |
| [ |
music |
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Nine Inch Nails - The Warning |
] |
I've been playing around with some interesting poetic forms, I suppose you could say. The word has an odd connotation that doesn't quite fit; I'm not writing flowery soliloquies or angsty free-verse, just playing with words in a non-narrative scheme. Did a bunch of one-line and two-line poems, two random longer ones more based on observations around me, and now this:
I looked at the first page of my LiveJournal, here, and wrote down every word that I typed in all-caps, from January 13th through April 5th. The result is kinda funny, when read together as your mind struggles desperately for footholds of coherency.
( Observe. )
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| I am going to forget so many things. |
[05 Apr 2009|08:05pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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Good |
] |
| [ |
music |
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This Way - She Takes |
] |
However, I shall attempt to recap the most of what I can recall:
There was a Sausage Fest at John's. Finally executing an idea he had for some time, John hosted a party in which all the guests would bring and devour dishes utilizing sausages. I made bratwursts on a George Foreman grill. John cooked up some homemade sausages his father prepared, Kelly brought sausages with peppers and onions, and Dassia brought two long-ass Hungarian (I think it was?) sausages. We then played Monopoly and actually finished the game! John won. Dassia left mid-game. I lost.
I have been righting an egregious wrong by watching the Star Wars films with Renae the past two Thursdays at school - transforming them into Star Wars Awesomedays. We wanted to do more dueling, but the weather was not kind for the viewing of A New Hope. However, we did attempt to dress in a Star Wars-y fashion, and she did far better than I without even having seen the films. She also gave me a present - a green lil' Jedi Starfighter, circa Episode II. She is AWESOME.
Speaking of Nae and lightsabers, I just got back from the Sunday tradition of studying with her for an upcoming bio exam, then going out to eat with Ryan. However, this time, after eating we went to Toys R Us.
She bought a lightsaber.
It's frakkin' awesome, too - it changes color, either green or red, and has little pop-out spikes on the hilt. It's modeled after a lightsaber in The Force Unleashed, a video game I have for the Wii and enjoy immensely. We looked at a great deal more than just lightsabers, though, and went through several nostalgia trips. Good times indeed.
I also stopped at Target on the way home and applied for a job. I figured I should be making some fucking money already, and am tired of mooching off my parents like a fucking bum.
Let's see... went over John's yesterday for band practice, definitely need to do that more often, as we were rather rusty. We took a break in the middle, as Kelly called, wanting to get food. We told her we'd go to Baja Fresh, then go back to John's to eat and hang out.
When we got to Baja Fresh, Kelly called me. "Where are you guys?"
"We're inside. Where are you?"
"Wait, at Baja?"
"Yeah... um, where are you?"
"Oh man, I'm at John's."
"Hahaha - why?"
"I thought we were meeting there, then going to Baja together!"
"No... that's why I said, 'Let's go to Baja Fresh, THEN John's."
"Yeah, but, I thought we'd go there, y'know, as a group!"
"We'd MEET UP here as a group, and THEN go to John's. Y'know. Like how I said on the phone?"
So she came to the taco place, got foods, and then we departed for John's. While talking over the Mexican-styled treats, we discovered she had never seen any of the Celebrity Jeopardy skits on SNL. We remedied that.
Oh! And I should definitely mention that I actually Met Renae's mother today. Quite unexpectedly!
I pull into the parking lot at the EB Library today, exiting my car and walking towards the door, about to take out my cell phone to call Nae. Then I hear, "Hey! Hey!" Not on my phone, mind you. In the air.
I look over from the opposite end of the parking lot, and there's... Nae? But, there are other people she's with - oh, snap!
Apparently, when she arrived at the library, it was closed. She called her mother, who was about to take her dog out for a walk with her sister, and so they decided to walk over to the library to keep her company.
So I met her mom! It was brief, and went well. I am pleased with this outcome.
Lastly, I made a joke Twitter account. This is not surprising to anyone.
http://www.twitter.com/simpledirection
When you add someone's Twitter account to your page, so that you might read their updates in one convenient location, it is called "following" someone. Hence, you can now follow Simple Directions.
Thank you, and goodnight.
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| Another one of those nights. |
[23 Mar 2009|02:51am] |
| [ |
mood |
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A lil' weird. |
] |
| [ |
music |
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Nine Inch Nails - Not So Pretty Now |
] |
Can't sleep - or I don't want to. What's the difference?
Haven't had one of these in a while. Well, sort of was the case last night, but I forced myself to bed around two-something. Now it's almost three.
Let's do some recapping.
As I mentioned in the previous post, in the middle of one of my FIVE STAR GOURMET SURVEYS, I went to meet Renae at her library on Tuesday. She did some homework, some shit for a bio project on muscles, so the teacher has the students fetching her pictures of body builders. Maybe the teacher likes this sort of thing. Nae, however, finds them extraordinarily disgusting, and I am glad for this.
Then, we had a lightsaber duel.
We walked outside, I brought two plastic lightsabers, and we dueled.
Hey, everyone? MY GIRLFRIEND IS SUPREMELY FUCKING AWESOME.
Wednesday night John and I went over Kelly's new place for dinner, which was superbly delicious, as always. She made a slow-cooked pot roast with veggies and all kinds of flavor. Dessert was chocolate and raspberry mousse with chocolate chips. Frakking wonderful.
We also played N64 - Mario Party, specifically. I would've preferred MarioKart, but it was MIA. However, John's choice of Peach in character led to many hilarious moments and quotes - if you're friends with me on Facebook, you'll see evidence of that in my profile.
Friday, Nae and I went to see Coraline and hang out at the EB mall. Movie was good! Mall was fun! And then, in leaving, her sister's boyfriend's hoboling minions were an annoyance yet again. A severe annoyance. Fucking children. I yelled at them.
Then, today (yesterday by the technical nature of time, but frak it), I met Nae at the library yet again. Her break was hardly anything of the sort, and I hate her bio teacher probably more than she does - maybe equally so. Actually, first we went for Dunkin Donuts, as the glorious Dunkachino called my name once more. We brought them back to the library, but ate them outside on a picnic table near the duck pond, in the outdoor semipark where we had dueled. Then it was studying for her and sketching for me, though she was immensely distracted by a showing of Twilight in the library. Yeah, a frakkin' flatscreen just hanging there, showing movies, in a library. Another wonderful thing about her, my girlfriend is perhaps the only girl in the world that likes that movie, yet dislikes it's supposed-heartthrob of a male lead. This was very good news to behold, I'm quite glad to not be among the nation's frustrated boyfriends, held in comparison to a fictional vampire and looking worse for the wear.
After the library, we met her friend Ryan for linner, this time at Chili's. This has become a Sunday tradition, these eatings, and everyone is happy about that. I got chicken tacos!
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