Insight into Me

"You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights."
-Maya Angelou

A Rainy Day
I love rainy days, which is fortunate, because Western PA is full of 'em. Everyone talks about how rainy Seattle is. Pittsburgh gets 6 less days of precipitation, but more rain overall (meaning our rainy days have heavier rains). We get a few more sunny days than they do, but over 200 days of the year are overcast.
I lived for 9 months in Barcelona, where they get about 30 rainy days per year (all in February) (yes, I know February doesn't have 30 days. It's a joke.), and I found the constant sunshine to be oppressive and kinda awful.
I celebrate the rain. I jump in puddles and I walk slowly to my car and look up at it falling down on me. Same with snow. I can't wait for the first snow. Think: Lorelai Gilmore. I'm just as crazy about it as she is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuS5IrQPqFg

Lost Luggage
Yup, I would freak out. I usually travel with my favorite things, so I would be quite bummed to lose the best of my wardrobe. I would definitely yell on the phone to someone about it. Five minutes after that, I wouldn't be mad anymore.

Tangled Christmas Tree Lights
I can picture myself sitting on the floor in a mass of lights, both cats tromping all over them and me, laughing hysterically as I try to untangle them. JP would just stare at me like I was crazy, and even though I would be annoyed by the lights in general, the process and untangled lights at the end would be a generally enjoyable experience.

I hope you feel like you know me a bit better now.

Spring Cleaning

On the subject of winter being over (even though it is currently snowing, lol), I decided to do a real spring cleaning this year. I spent 4 hours going through and reorganizing my sewing/craft/art corner (a very small section of the office). I spent another two reorganizing my desk. And today, I spent about an hour creating a spring cleaning list based on a link from one of my favorite blogs. See, I've never done a spring cleaning before. JP and I have always moved every year, so things that should be cleaned once a year get done when we move. Since we've been here for about 3 years now, I figured maybe I should do some things. I washed two of our windows, and I'm beginning to think that the kitchen being dim had nothing to do with the lightbulbs (YUCK!). I wiped off all the doorknobs and light switches. Then I washed the baseboards. Now I feel like this is starting to get into the territory of crazy anal retentiveness. Should I really pull the refrigerator out and clean behind it? Pull all of the dishes out of the cabinets and clean them out? How exactly do I clean the inside of the dishwasher (and I'm sorry - its job is to wash things. Is it really dirty inside there?)? Do I really need to wash every wall, top to bottom? Do I have to take down all my art to do that? How exactly do you wash a shower curtain liner?

I guess what I'm really asking of all you adults is - Do you do all this? Have I been failing these past years? Should I have children just so I can have a source of cheap labor for tasks such as these?

Out of Hibernation

About six weeks of writer's/life block ended last week, and I am finally updating my life, both here and in the real world. I've had a series of annoying weeks where nothing seems to go right, interspersed with some random awesomeness. I'm going to try to topically cover everything.

Wizard Rock
Writer's block really screwed me here. I sat on articles far longer than I should have for the 'pedia, and it drove me constantly crazy that I couldn't accomplish anything but news bits for awhile. I missed writing interesting things, and I like to think that people missed reading them. I also had my first real foray into managing an all-volunteer staff. It's tough. There were weeks I spent 20 hours dealing with things for the site, and this is a LOT of my free time. At this point, I think we have managed to set everything up to be ok with less work. Big sigh of relief there. I think JP was getting to the point of resenting the time I was putting into it. I was getting there, too.

I found a roommate for and bought tickets to Wrockstock (a three day wizard rock festival in November). I get butterflies of excitement every time I think about it. Bands that I have never seen, awesome people to hang out with more (including my roommate!), new people to meet, three days in the woods of Missouri - it's going to be insanity, and I can't wait.

I have had some really cool things come out being the 'pedia editor lately. I got my first press copy of a CD to review, which included a personal note that had me all misty and going "Why did I ever doubt this was worth it?!" to JP. I spent time with wrockers that I had really only interacted with because of the site (and had an amazing time!). I've gotten random comments here and there, from people who appreciate what I do. And, most exciting of all, my proposal for a wizard rock panel at LeakyCon got accepted!

LeakyCon is the Harry Potter conference that I'm going to in Boston this May. My entire panel is full of people that I can't wait to hear answer the questions I have (erm, will have. WIP at the moment). I think everyone will walk away from it really impressed by our community and feel full of wrock love. At least, that's the goal. The other goal is for me to have my outfits picked out soon! I need one for traveling/arriving, one for Thursday night, one for Friday (that includes my panel), one for Saturday, one for the ball, and one (possibly two?) for Sunday. So far, I have two for sure, and three with a general plan. Well on my way.

I've been to three more shows. I don't think I will ever not enjoy jumping up and down to wizard rock. The shows that I have been to over the past six months have included some of the most raucous fun, insane adventures, and happy friend-making of my life. It's amazing.

Real Life
I've read a bunch of books, seen some good movies, and had some really great moments with the boys. It's been a generally happy time where friends and family are concerned.

I've also hit another peak of insomnia. I see 4 or 4:30 am pretty often. I'm torn about asking for more Ambien, after my last experience, but it did really help with the sleeping. We'll see.

I've spent what seems like hours trying to deal with the Parking Authority (PSA: Pay your parking tickets on time, kids!), doctor's offices, and admissions staff at La Roche. Just so you know, the Parking Authority will cash your check for a ticket, not tell you that it was late, and charge you late fees. (I only realized this when I went to pay a different ticket online. Fuckers.) Don't ever believe a doctor's office when they say they will call you back. I've never had one that did. They may also get snotty with you when you suggest that they are irresponsible assholes for not doing so, yet telling you specifically NOT to call them. Gah. And also, just because you have a bachelor's degree doesn't mean that you don't need to turn in high school transcripts. Uh huh. Makes sense to me.

I have failed to keep up with laundry or any sort of cleaning, but this is typical of this time of year. It seems that it is finally spring-ish, so I'm back in my spring cleaning mode. It really is amazing how much my productivity and what I do depends on the seasons. At least now I can mentally prepare for how gross the apartment gets in February and March (but not without the requisite guilt - I really should've been a Catholic).

And so it goes. I've noticed a lot of people seem to be trying to shrug off the mid-winter funk and get back into the swing of things. I'm glad to see we are all emerging.

A New Project

Since I've spent 23 of the last 26 days laid up (because of my spinal headache or this nasty sinus infection I've had), I haven't been doing much of anything. Fortunately enough, the 3 days I was feeling ok were the three days I spent in NYC with JP and Zac, seeing a wizard rock show, buying new jeans, and hanging out with Six and Celso.

I recently saw a video where my friend Matt talked about his favorite jeans dying. He had worn them for 50some days straight after he bought them without washing them. After a relationship like that, I can definitely see how losing them would be painful. So, I've decided to embark on a similar journey with my new pair of jeans that I bought in New York. I'm not wearing them straight, but I am going to resist washing them for as long as I can stand it. I figure this way they will truly know they are mine before I reshape them with the dryer. When I bought them two weeks ago, they were pretty tight and trendy-looking. Since then, they have become much more comfortable and yet, they aren't really hanging off me. We'll see how it goes.

Just thought I'd let you know.

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake

My friend Matt the wizard rocker is turning 30 this Friday. His band is The Whomping Willows. Since he will be at my house Thursday night, I thought I would get a cake for him. I called Giant Eagle to order it, and I believe that the woman there thinks I am insane.

me: I'd like to order a cake to pick up on Thursday.
her: Ok, and what would you like? (goes through cake/frosting options)
me: (I dislike cake usually, so I just pick random things.) Yeah, that sounds good.
her: And what do you want written on that?
me: "Happy Birthday Matt"
her: Ok, and do you want roses on that?
me: Um, well, can you put a guitar on there?
her: Well, we can certainly try to airbrush one on there, but I can't promise anything.
me: (imagining an entry for Cake Wrecks) No, that's fine. It might be funny if it's awful. I'm ok with that.
her: (laughter)
me: Um, is there any way you could also put a tree on there? Is there room?
her: We can put a tree on there, sure.
me: Awesome.
her: (slightly incredulous) Ok, so you want it to say "Happy Birthday Matt" and have a guitar and a tree on it?
me: Yes, that's perfect. Thank you so much!
her: No problem, ma'am. We'll see you on Thursday.

I resolve to...

Last year was the first year that I made a New Year's resolution that I completed. I don't think I read many books in 2007. I replaced them with teh interwebs. My resolution was to read 20 books that I had never read before. I actually read these 25, in this order:

• Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1) by Jim Butcher
• Fool Moon (The Dresden Files, Book 2) by Jim Butcher
• Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, Book 3) by Jim Butcher
• Summer Knight (The Dresden Files, Book 4) by Jim Butcher
• Death Masks (The Dresden Files, Book 5) by Jim Butcher
• Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6) by Jim Butcher
• Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7) by Jim Butcher
• Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8) by Jim Butcher
• White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9) by Jim Butcher
• Small Favor (The Dresden Files, Book 10) by Jim Butcher
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
• Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
• Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
• Paper Towns by John Green
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• The Christmas Countess by Adrienne Basso
• Blood and Chocolate by Anette Curtis Klause
• Let it Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, Maureen Johnson

This year, I would like to also complete my resolutions. I know my limits. I know that I can't always eat healthy 100% of the time. I know that no matter how much I bully myself, I won't exercise more than occasionally. At the moment, I don't particularly want to quit smoking, so I know that I won't be able to. (It's hard enough when you really, really want to. I've tried plenty of times.)
So, here are my resolutions for the year:

• I only saw 18 new movies last year. I own DVDs that I have never seen. So, this one is in 2 parts. I want to watch at least 30 movies that I have never seen before, and I want to watch every DVD that I own but have not seen. For the 30 movies, other than in my collection, I would like to finally see some "classics" that I have never seen, including, but not limited to (please don't mock me): The Godfather, Goonies, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Royal Tennenbaums, Labyrinth, Old School, Anchorman, The Blues Brothers, Caddyshack, and almost any of the James Bonds (new or old).
• I want to read 25 books again.
• I want to post on my personal blog at least 104 times this year (twice a week, on average).
• I want to complete another photography project as amazing as the photobooth party.
• I want to finally watch all of The West Wing. I think I have only seen seasons 1-3 in their entirety, parts of season 4, and nothing much after that.

So, we'll see how I do. What are your resolutions?

A Year in Review

Ganked this from my friend, Ember.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
I drove through Utah, Idaho, and Oregon.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
My new year's resolution was to read 20 new books and I managed to read 25, plus reread Deathly Hallows and listen to an audiobook. Next year I'm shooting for 25, and I'm also going to try to blog at least 10 times/month.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Kelley and John had this cute lil' bundle. She's the only kid that I insist on holding every time I see her.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Fortunately, no.

5. What countries did you visit?
Ach, I was stuck here! I am definitely leaving in 2009, though.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Sleep. I would like to cure my insomnia.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 22 and May 10. Jen&Doug's and Will&Shan's weddings.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting into my interior design program, I suppose.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not cleaning my carpets.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I am almost constantly suffering illness or injury. Right now, I actually have a vicious cut on my thumb from the Brita pitcher. No lie.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
It was a gift, but I love love love my Flip camera.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I thought that McCain's concession of the presidency was quite humble and dignified. Good on him.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Anyone who is publicly hateful about same-sex marriage.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Wizard rock and happy hour.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Wizard rock, LeakyCon, writing for the Wizrocklopedia, getting into LaRoche, Jen&Doug's and Will&Shan's weddings.

16. What song(s) will always remind you of 2008?
Any Whomping Willows or JFF songs.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier, definitely.
ii. thinner or fatter? I was at my lowest adult weight about a year ago, so at least I'm back to reasonable.
iii. richer or poorer? Richer, I guess. We have less credit card debt, at least.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Watching movies

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Obsessing over Seth Rogen, daydreaming, sitting on my ass.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve with the extended immediate family, Christmas morning at my parents' and Christmas dinner at the Fridy's.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
I'm constantly falling in love with one thing or another. And also constantly in love with my kittens and JP.

23. How many one-night stands?
Being married has really hindered this.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
I don't think I discovered anything new. Probably Top Chef and Project Runway - they're always good fun.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Sarah Palin, perhaps?

26. What was the best book you read?
Paper Towns by John Green

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Wizard rock, of course!

28. What did you want and get?
A much happier existence.

29. What did you want and not get?
Um, an HD TV, I guess. Not terribly disappointed, though.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Dark Knight, Sweeney Todd, Burn After Reading, and Enchanted were all awesome.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
On the actual day, I went to happy hour at Joe Mama's and dinner at Fuel&Fuddle with bunches of friends. I turned 27.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If any of my far-away friends had moved here.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Cold weather: Jeans, long sleeve tee, boots. Warm weather: Jeans, tank top, flip flops.

34. What kept you sane?
JP and Tim, though they do also drive me crazy at times.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Seth Rogen.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Anything that involves limiting science, whether in school (evolution vs. creationism, abstinence-only sex ed) or research (stem cell research, medical professionals not having to provide services they don't agree with, medical marijuana).

37. Who did you miss?
Steph (especially when she was in Iraq), Tim Scott, Kathleen, Laura, Jen&Doug, Jess&Goat.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Rose, Caity, and the other PAW-ters and the Germans.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
I can do absolutely anything that I decide to do.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
This is never gonna end/It really can't end/Cuz we've made too damn many friends.

15 days in 7 minutes

Where I sum up my life lately. Recorded on Thursday.



Nerdfighter: a term used to describe fans of John and Hank Green's Brotherhood 2.0 project.
My Nerdfighter videos can be found here and here.
Buy Paper Towns and Stargirl on Amazon or at your local bookstore.

Various marijuana proposition information can be found here.

And finally, a small, spoiler-free review of Twlight.
I kinda thought the movie was better than the book.

Up until the Port Angeles scene, the movie was awkward and uncomfortable. I laughed hysterically when Carlisle came onto screen for the first time (and got dirty looks from the woman next to me) because he looked like a freaking circus clown. His makeup was just so overdone. After Port Angeles, the movie was very true to the book. I thought they captured the mood incredibly well, and the Cullens were everything I was hoping for. The few changes that were made actually helped with the flow of things rather than detracting from my enjoyment. That being said...
If you haven't read the book and teeny-bopper vampires are not your thing, you're not going to enjoy the movie. Just a warning. Personally, I thought it was great, and I plan on seeing it again in the theatres.

Taking the Good Along with the Bad

It's Sunday morning, and this weekend has been an emotional roller coaster so far.
Wow, that's a bit melodramatic. Essentially, yesterday was full of both happy and angry, alternating throughout the day.

It started with my 2pm appointment being canceled via a voicemail. I called back to reschedule and was told they were "too busy" to deal with it then, and they would have to call me back. When the scheduler finally called me back three hours later, she was snotty and annoyed that I asked if I could be squeezed in on Monday and then further annoyed when I told her I wasn't available on Thursday. Like it was my responsibility to keep the entire week-long period after my appointment open in case they canceled my original one. Grr.

Then I found out that I got into La Roche for my design program! Ahhhhhhh!!!! Life goals being achieved!

Then I went to drop JP off at the liquor store while I ran to Giant Eagle for flowers and some woman just backed her car out of a parking spot into my car. There is barely even a dent, so I wanted to let the whole thing go. In retrospect, I should've taken her info and fucked with her as much as possible because after she hit me:
1) She told me that if I had honked, she wouldn't have hit me. (I was laying on the horn for a good 5-10 seconds when I realized she was about to hit me)
2) She told me that I probably didn't want to have to pay my deductible for such a small dent. (Even though she would be responsible for it because SHE FUCKING BACKED INTO ME!!!)
3) She never ONCE apologized.
But we were late, and I somehow felt bad for her even though she was a raging bitch, so I just left.

Then we went to the 25th anniversary party of some family friends. We met this awful woman who bonded with JP because she's a lawyer. As the three of us were interacting, I noticed any time I tried to insert something into the conversation, she would look at me, pause, and then continue as if I had said nothing. After the third time this happened, I simply got up and left to find more enjoyable conversation partners.

Then we drove home, put on costumes, and headed over to Brian, LeeAnn, and Rob's party. Everyone was adorable, of course. I have some amazingly creative friends when it comes to costumes.


And then I woke up this morning to find a new Half-Blood Prince trailer!



I suppose the good outweighed the bad in the overall scheme of things, and I have full confidence that karma will work its magic to punish those that deserve it.

Fruition

So, today marks the two year anniversary of my blog! Two years ago today, I posted for the very first time. Sure, there have been some gaps without entries for awhile (like recently, sorry!), but I have stuck with it. And I have to say that being able to rant, rave, and just generally speak my mind to an audience is pretty awesome.

In addition to this anniversary, today also marks the beginning of lots of plans I have had for a few months now. Tonight is the Readathon at Joseph Beth's Booksellers. At 5pm, I will start reading. Hopefully, I will make the full 24 hours. If I do, I will have raised almost $200 for Beginning with Books, my charity of choice. So, I will definitely be out of any communication loop from tonight until Sunday morning (I plan to pass out shortly after coming home on Saturday and sleep until morning). 24 hours with no internet! Is that harder than the lack of sleep? We'll see.

I've also managed to write three articles for the Wizrocklopedia so far, and a fourth should be posted in the next few days. I've totally loved writing for them and getting to talk about wizard rock to an audience who cares. It's very cool to have people react positively to something you've written; especially enough to comment or email me about it.

In less than three weeks, we have the first wizard rock show I have been helping to plan. This has been going on since the middle of August, so again, I've been waiting awhile for it. The day after the Pittsburgh show, my friend Rose and I are going to jump in the car and follow the bands to Columbus, where they will be joined with yet another band. The day after that, we'll drive to outside Cleveland and see them again. Wizard rock road trip! I know some of you think I'm crazy and ridiculous and should be devoting my time to more worthwhile things, but at the moment, this is what makes me happy. After that, it's less than a month until the show that I set up at Your Inner Vagabond, followed quickly by Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yikes! Am I really thinking about 2009 already?

And finally, Monday is my birthday. I am usually so super excited and planning craziness and jumping up and down, but I have really been far too busy lately to anticipate it. Plus, 27 may be a bit old to make a huge deal out of it. There will still be parent celebration and drinks and dinner with friends on Monday, and that's all I really need.

If you've been reading this for two years, thank you so much for following my life, step by step. If you've jumped in somewhere in the middle, I appreciate the time you've spent here. Thanks to everyone for letting me sound off - it means a lot.

Pittsburgh Pride

You know the rule where you're allowed to make fun of your little brother, but no one else is? Because you know that deep down you love him, so it's ok?
I have much the same affliction with Pittsburgh.

Todd recently posted this on Flickr, linking to a report on how Sienna Miller complained about Pittsburgh.
So, I get it, I really do. You live the swank life in NY and LA, and it's hard for Pittsburgh to compete.

What really bothers me are the comments on the story from regular ol' folk.

"I think it's a nice place but it's not Boston, Chicago or San Francisco and it never will be."
Well, no shit, honey. We have a small fraction of that population. Of course we are not going to have the same amenities.
Population Greater Pittsburgh: 1.3 million
Population Greater San Francisco: 7.2 million
Population Greater Boston: 4.4 million (not including Worcester or Providence, which are within 45 miles)
Population Greater Chicago: 9.5 million

"Slacked jaws, nascar, hunting, and the loss of a football game can make the entire city heartbroken and cease all activity...Not to mention the awful semi-southern white trash accent that is so abundant."
Oh, yikes. It's like the people that meet the one asshole in a city and decide the whole place is full of them. And I have to say, there are people who speak Pittsburghese, sure, but there are plenty that do not. You could hardly say the same in a large Southern city, where people look at "Yankees" funny.

"...the transportation system sucks (ONE metro, to and from South Hills?? Oh, I am sorry, I forgot about the Pat Bus, how fun to ride)."
This person moved from Pittsburgh to DC. I bet if she ever went to Buffalo or KC (comparably sized cities), she'd be begging for the PAT system.

"Doesn’t your Mayor have better things to do than comment on what a two bit actress thinks?"
Um, don't you think someone asked him about it? I somehow doubt he called a press conference to talk about Sienna Miller.

Regardless of how great other cities are, I am in Pittsburgh of my own volition. There is plenty to do if you care to look, and lots of good people here. I was a little surprised to read all of this, because most people I talk to that have been here think it's a fun town. And guess what? I pay much less for my adorable apartment than anyone living in Boston, DC, NY, or San Francisco, which makes my quality of life better. So there.

She moves her body like a cyclone

In the lab that I work at, we have sister offices in both Hong Kong and Karlsruhe, Germany. This means we have a constant influx of German students who come here to study for a couple months. Lately, I have been making friends with them, and the latest group is just fantastic.
When they came to happy hour on Tuesday, they told me they were going to Matrix, a club here, on Thursday. Did I want to come? Free cover, dollar drinks. And dancing! No one ever wants to go dancing with me. And here are 4 boys that are perfectly willing to accompany me there. I was hoping with boys there that meant no random grinding from some guy or getting pinched as I walked through the crowd. Plus, boys who dance? This is a whole new breed for me.

So I decided that partying like a rockstar on a Thursday made me feel very not old and convinced Zac to come along. We went to the lab to pick everyone up. "Everyone" was 6 of us, which meant squeezing 4 in the backseat. Adventure time!

We arrive at Matrix and the boys have to drink copious amounts of drinks before they will come dance. Their drink of choice? Vodka and Coke. Blech. I sucked down 2 of them to speed things along, but that was the only alcohol I consumed the entire night.
Some highlights of the evening included:

• Alexander, Zac, and I being stuck in the hip-hop* room when some sort of group dance that we did not know came on. We stared around in confusion, and I refused to try and fake it. People look pretty silly dancing in unison, especially as adults and looking like they are doing the electric slide with just a few modifications. It reminds me of this.
  
• The Germans telling me that I "couldn't" wear jeans, so me in heels and a short skirt while they were all wearing jeans.
• Marc confessing that he would be much happier to dance to metal than any of the music in the hip-hop* room.
• Daniel switching places with me while dancing when the jerk behind me did not take the multiple hip checks and elbows I threw at him as a clue to back off.
  
• The bouncer, who upon seeing my outfit said, "I like your outfit, but man, now I want a candy cane." (I was wearing a pink and white striped shirt, black skirt, knee socks with pink and black stripes, and black boots)
• The first girl I saw with a skirt shorter than mine. Then the second, the third...after awhile, I started looking for ones longer than mine. It was much more difficult. As Marc put it, "I think you would have to just wear a belt to have the shortest skirt here."
  
• Alexander insisting that I dance to "Baby Got Back", even though I was dead tired and wanted to sit, and grinning when I agreed.
• Felix insisting on just "one more song" before we left (which turned into 5 or so). Otherwise, I would've missed "Yeah", so I'm not mad.
• The boys insisting that we take Carson St. home because "there are so many memories" (I think they've only been in Pittsburgh a couple months...lol)
• The guy who needed to use my cell at the gas station to call his girlfriend. She didn't pick up, but he asked me to relay this message to her if she called back: "your boyfriend is waiting to pick you up at the Exxon, and he's pissed". She wasn't too pleased when I told her that.
  

So, all in all, I have to say that Matrix was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Once these guys are gone, I'm going to have to continue making friends with the Germans to have dancing partners.

*Please note that hip-hop is used very loosely here to mean crappy top 40 danceable music that makes every girl dancing appear slutty because of the ass shaking involved. When I normally say hip-hop, I mean hip-hop, indie or otherwise, including, but not limited to: El-P, Aesop Rock, RJD2, Wu Tang, Dr. Octagon, Gorillaz, etc.

Good for me, good for you

Rendell signed the smoking ban. In 90 days or so, Pennsylvania will be non-smoking in 95% of workplaces. This doesn't include bars that get more than 80% of their business from alcohol, casinos, and "private clubs". So, all restaurants and most bars will be smoke-free.

I have mixed feelings. Politically, I have no issues with making someplace smoke-free. Personally? Well...

I don't mind going outside to have a cigarette about 80% of the time. The other 20% annoys me, but I can deal.
You know what I can't deal with? People who thumb their nose at smokers and say nanny-nanny boo-boo. Like it's just been a big battle between the two, and the non-smokers have won somehow. If this was put to a public vote, I would have voted for the smoking ban. This doesn't mean I won't miss my cigarettes at the bar at PHI, talking to Rob or Eugene or whoever. But please don't rub it in my face, either. It's a touchy subject.

If only I were eighteen again

I'm sure you are all reading that and shuddering. I can hardly believe I wrote it myself. Let me explain.
Tom Petty was Tuesday night, after much anticipation. This was my third (fourth?) time seeing him at Star Lake (huge outdoor amphitheatre that has both covered seats and lawn). The last time I went, there was a little too much indulgence and things did not go well. I needed to purge these memories, and there is just about no one I would rather see in concert than Tom Petty. Shannon and I bought tickets in March, two days after they went on sale. We've been planning for awhile. And everything went totally according to plan!
We picked everyone up, got to Star Lake, grilled, drank, met up with everyone we needed to, and made it in on time. We even got to see a little of Steve Winwood.

A Tom Petty show is an interesting conglomerate of people. If you are even remotely a stoner in high school (or hang out with them) or if you go to college, I believe it is unofficially mandated that you memorize his 'Greatest Hits' album. This means he has a huge fan base, and that every song is essentially a classic. On his set list, there were 3 songs that I don't know every single word to. Other than that, it's like listening to my favorite Petty songs, but also dancing along in the grass with 25,000 other people who feel the same way. Zac and I had an interesting conversation about that concept, which went something like this:

Zac: All these people, they are all here because they all care about Tom Petty.
Me: Well, I'm sure they care about other people, too.
Zac: Yes, I'm sure they all have family and loved ones. I wasn't trying to suggest that they were soulless monsters.

You've all heard about my strange taste in men, so it should come as no surprise that the Tom Petty crowd is full of eye candy for me. Long hair, maybe slight hippie leanings with a dash of metal thrown in, and facial hair. It's like the required outfit for boys. And yes, I mean boys and not men.
The group standing in front of us were having a good time, just like us. I thought the one was cute. At some point, his friend turned around, and I was appalled. He was just a kid! I looked at the rest of them. No facial hair...and not in the clean-shaven way. How old was the cute one? My friend Brooke was just too curious and asked him. 18. 18!! That means that he had either just graduated from high school or was about to. He's never been to college, and if he drank in the parking lot, someone else had to buy him the liquor. Egads.
So what did I do? I made friends with them in the only way you can at a huge outdoor concert when 'Last Dance with Mary Jane' is playing. And then they kept us as friends during 'You Don't Know How it Feels'.

Afterwards, I felt guilty partying it up like that with someone that young, until I really remembered being 18. Then I just felt jealous. What did they have to do the next day? Go to their part-time Bruegger's job? What were they doing for the rest of the summer? I'm guessing it wasn't data collection and trying to pay down credit cards. I woke up the next day in my own apartment, and didn't do anything at all. I ate cereal for lunch and Thai food that I ordered myself for dinner. I watched TV, putzed on the internet, and read. I could've eaten ice cream for dinner if I wanted. I could've taken the car that I paid for somewhere. That made me feel a little better.

And then I listened to the Traveling Wilburys, and felt even better.



"Well, it's all right, even if you're old and grey. Well, it's all right - you've still got something to say." Believe me, I am far from grey, and I do have a lot more to say. Even if what I have to say is about 401Ks and buying a house and avoiding suburbia for the rest of my life. They'll grow up, too. I just hope they end up still having fun in 8 years.

Set list:
You Wreck Me
Mary Jane's Last Dance
I Won't Back Down
Even The Losers
Free Fallin'
Cabin Down Below
Sweet William
End Of The Line
The Waiting
Saving Grace
Face In The Crowd
Honey Bee
You Don't Know How It Feels
Learning To Fly
Don't Come Around Here No More
Refugee

Encore:
Runnin' Down A Dream
Mystic Eyes
American Girl

Thwarted yet again

My wish came true! It stopped raining! I can rollerblade again!
Except i can't.
After the rain stopped, mother nature cruelly threw in the only other weather in which I will not go outside and exercise in: 95 degrees.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I hate summer. I never want it to be above 80 degrees. I am ok if I can go outside in a tank top, jeans, and flip flops comfortably, but hotter than that, and I'm the most miserable person ever. You see, we don't have central air. We have one window unit for our somewhere-between-800-and-1,000 square foot apartment. This does make a difference, but not nearly enough. Last year, I set up what I thought was an ingenious method of fans to keep cool:

This year, I decided it wasn't enough and added 4 more fans to our repertoire. I believe that before this, every fan we own was given to us by my parents or in-laws. I had never bought fans before, and damn, are they expensive. I wanted to buy the modern looking, oscillating tower fans, but they were $60 each, and I couldn't justify spending almost $250 on fans. So I bought 2 small high-velocity fans and then 2 of the circular oscillating fans. Here's the new system:
It's been fairly cool today, even after I cooked breakfast. This heat wave isn't supposed to let up anytime soon, so hopefully this is a manageable system. I think the key was taking the cooler air from the back and pushing it out towards the sunny part. I've also closed all of our blinds to at least halfway, which I hate, but I'm sure makes a difference.

The worst part of all this was when JP came to me yesterday while I was doing dishes and said, "Do I have a fever?" I touched him and freaked out. After several courses of cold compresses, feet in cool water, and drinking tons of water, he was delirious. I forced him into a cool bath and then fed him some carrots (I was worried about electrolytes after all the water, plus it was amusing to watch him eat carrots in the bathtub.). His fever mostly broke after that, but hours later when I bought a thermometer, it was still at 100 degrees. That means he was probably running around 102 or 103 earlier. Yikes! Personally, I only get fevers if I am at death's door, so I was scared. Plus, JP delirious? Yeah, not fun.

Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore'

JP and I have a coffee table that some of you may remember. My father made it for us. It's a great design - mission style, with mosaic tiles on top. Unfortunately, it has been moved three separate times and keeps losing tiles. It's hard to clean because of the tiles and grout, and well, it's just seen better days. So I wanted to change the top without losing the rest of the table. I decided our best bet was to decoupage a big piece of wood that we would simply nail on top of the table. When trying to design it, I was completely befuddled. What theme do I want? How big should the pictures be? Do they all face the same way? Completely covered or spaces between? It gave me headaches to try and work it.
And then my genius of a husband suggested writing. Not just any writing, but quotes that we like and wanted to display. The muse struck me the other day, and I started the design and so far, it's fan-fucking-tastic. I love it.

The only thing is, I need more quotes! There are a few standbys that I love that are on there, but the rest are from a quick Google search for Carroll, Shakespeare, and Plato quotes. While all three of these people have many wonderful things to say, I need something more.
So, your mission, should you choose to accept it (and I must insist that you do!) is to leave me quotes in the comments. They can be song lyrics, famous writers, politicians, whatever. Don't make them too sappy or cliche (they'll never pass the JP test) or too bleak (I'll reject them). Please tell me the source if you know it.
When the table is finished (I'm hoping by, say, August, with our track record for these sorts of things), I'll post pictures and give credit to all who contributed. If you want to see the mock design, email me and I'll send you a jpeg of what I've put together so far.
Now go to town!

Will you be my friend?

A good friend of Tim's, Todd, moved into our building upstairs yesterday. We now have a representative on each floor, and I believe we are well on our way to total domination. If you are in need of an apartment, let me know. Having friends in the same building is like living in a dorm, but there's no RA and you can drink and smoke all you want. Not to mention have pets and kitchen appliances.

So, I don't know Todd at all, really. I've met the guy twice. Once was at this photography meet-up thing, where I asked him to wear my faerie wings and took this picture of him:

(see more on my Flickr)

Yesterday, I ran into him in the hallway and offered my moving services (hey, I can at least carry boxes/small furniture!). This was strange in and of itself because I can count on both my hands the number of times I have interacted with/seen any of my neighbors that weren't Tim. And then this morning, I decided to shower and have the luxury of clean towels (I am loath to tell you how long it has been since that happened). So I throw on this ridiculous hat I have to cover up my hair and my glasses and head downstairs. I open the fire door in our hallway and feel it hit someone. Shit! I just shoved a really heavy door into someone. So I'm apologizing profusely as I open it the rest of the way, and it's Todd. I feel stupid on many levels (most of which being the hat). We chat for a bit and I continue with my laundry.

I hope he will still be willing to be my friend after this. Maybe I'll make him some cookies.

Boticelli

Have you ever played Boticelli?
Last night, JP, Tim, and I watched Top Chef and then decided to play instead of watching more TV. I personally love the game because it combines my freakish knowledge of famous people with the ability to trick JP. I usually like to play by guessing ridiculous things when it's not my turn. If someone's letter is "K" and they are male, I'll say things to my team like, "I bet it's Meg Ryan!" Only last night, it backfired.

It was JP's turn. His letter was "S". I have played this game with JP many times and I know him quite well, so I can usually figure his out after a bit. So we're playing and I fake-whisper to Tim, "It's Sarcozy!"

And then stop. Because knowing JP, he often picks French politicians. And it actually fits. And I saw his face when I said that. And - it was now Tim's turn. So, of course, he asks about Sarcozy and wins the round. I felt so dumb.

Photography

I've been trying to catch up with posting pictures at my Shutterfly account and actually work on my photography, posted on my Flickr. Check it out, let me know what you think.

“Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see life with a clearer view again.”

(quote by Alex Tan)

Today was quite bad for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of the dream that I posted about earlier. I kept getting teary all day when I would think of it. But I had work to do and couldn't just go cry. So I blinked back tears countless times.
I had to work late today (until like 7:30), so I was essentially waiting all day so that I could go home and cry. When I got in my car to go home, I decided to grab some food for JP and I. Then I decided to just go wander around a store and Christmas shop. So after all this, I finally get home and get a big hug and I start to feel better. JP went and got us Thai takeout and I finished watching 'Gossip Girls'. Lovely. The rest of the night has been good, more random TV (caught last night's 'Project Runway' and some of 'French Kiss') and a visit from Tim. So we're hanging out and I find a Harry Potter fanfic titled...wait for it...."Snape: The Home Fries Nazi". The description is as follows: "Following Harry’s defeat of Voldemort, all Death Eaters lose their magic. Snape decamps to the United States, where he works as a fry cook. Harry seeks him out looking for advice." And it's 27,000 words long! I could barely get through telling them this because I was laughing so hard that I had tears pouring down my face. And then we discussed Potter Puppet Pal's "The Mysterious Ticking Noise" (please go watch it, it's hilarious) and JP and Tim imitated the Harry Potter puppet simultaneously. Hilarity. I love when they're undignified.
And then I realized how good I felt, just cracking up in my living room with JP and Tim. I did need to cry.