at least the song finally got out of my head

it takes a dang long time to upload a couple hundred pics to flickr. and i'm well aware that some of them are rather shoddy, but i'm posting them anyway. partly cause i'm too lazy to prescreen, but mostly cause seeing how i tried to take pics of everything and capture every moment reminds me how giddy i was to be there. how elated just to wake up in paris and have a cup of cocoa across the street from notre dame. i was armed with a trusty kodak advantix my first (and for now, still only) time overseas which was sorta nerve-wracking. "what if i don't get a good shot - i won't know 'til it's too late!" so yeah, some of the pics could have been better if i would have immediately seen the results and stepped three feet to the right, but i'm kinda glad that i was forced to take one shot and move on. i don't like to experience in 3 square inches - i prefer it lifesized. especially since then, it doesn't matter if my thumbs are in the way.

i have taken to only watching nbc shows as i can watch them on my 'puter, which works out well as i never set my tv up. my favorite parts of the shows?
heroes - it's so predictable, and still so fulfilling. of course claire falls for the flying man. of course peter makes out with the cute irish lass. i love it.
journeyman - i imagine it's lucius vorenus stuck trying to balance the life of a journalist, family man and "traveler." if only his trust sidekick was with him.
bionic woman - i don't accidentally break the ribs of guys i make out with. i consider that a bonus for everyone.

btw, in the future, when i mention that i'm thinking of changing my hair color, please weigh in with your opinion! remember, it may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a blog community to pick a hair color.

district of curmudgeons

i really don't like dc. like, not really at all. the whole time i was there i kept thinking, "this would be so much more fun in chicago, or london or nyc, or heck - even in buffalo!" the subways are crap. the people have no personality, the city is sterile and i couldn't find anything remarkable. except for commader keem. it's always fun to party with an old college roomie. especially when you're taking a tour of georgetown u and both of you get mistaken for college kids. that's an ego boost like no other. but, none the less, i'm glad to be home. glad i went too. i clearly needed to vist someplace else since when my plane landed i almost called a duly elected representative of the city of chicago instead of, you know, my friend who lives in the city i was actually visiting. so, there will be pics of dc and tomfoolery, but first you'll have to make do with pics of europe. finally got the film (real film) transferred to cd and on the web. maybe i'll describe the pics in another 5 years.

happens to the best of us

i think my cat is going through puberty. i base this ridiculous assumption on the fact that her meow just cracked. it was so adorable that it earned her oodles of smooches and a full litter box cleaning - a day ahead of schedule!

priorities, people

i saw michael moore speak saturday night. he was kicking off the distinguished speakers series at UB. and while i am in no position to discuss politics, i will say this: i found mr. moore to very insightful, humorous, impassioned and intelligent. i did not find him to be a raving lunatic, despite what "the buffalo news" had to say about it. and i do feel as though i should become more politically involved. i'm not sure how, but i think i'll start by voting, for a change.

but before i can do that, i really need to figure out what i'm doing with my hair. i know this is going to come as a shock, but i think i'm done with being a redhead. i think it's time to take a cue from the halliwell sisters, and go for the lovely chocolate brown of paige. yeah, i know i don't like chocolate - but it's not like i'm going to eat my hair!

i have a feeling listening to elliot smith would be a bad idea, too

i rarely get songs stuck in my head, and even more rarely does it bother me. the reason is that i really only get songs that i love in my head and i don't get sick of them. but i have a song i need to remove. i need to get "a little respect" by erasure out of my head, post haste. i've listened to it on repeat, i've watched the "scrubs" episode that centers around it, and still it's in my head. this would be fine, except that i woke up yesterday completely depressed that my boyfriend isn't returning my love - and i don't even have a freaking boyfriend! i am so embarassed that i am this easily influenced by music. i best be careful before i start running around robbing banks all whacked on scooby snacks or shaking my tail feather at inopportune moments.

it's a nice day for a...

fake wedding. the topics always vary wildly at pounding padres. last night was no exception with the topic of "worst first dance songs ever." when i recounted my tale of watching a first dance to "don't wanna miss a thing" the humanist and i decided that the best worst song ever to dance to would be "dream on." so, ladies and gentleman, because of this i now announce our engagement - 10 years from now. we fully plan on holding you hostage for all 5 minutes. and promptly afterwards we'll light a row of shots on fire with the marriage certificate. excited? we are too.

name calling

one of my friends recently labeled me a "world traveler," which sent all of us into a titter because she was referring to my recent trips to c-go. in her defense, i do believe chi-town once hosted a world's fair. but, to make her at least microscopically more accurate, i'm heading off to DC for columbus day weekend. what better place to celebrate the guy who "found" our land than in our capital!

but, in all seriousness, i'm looking forward to it. i'd never want to live in DC, but it's a great town to visit. and i've never taken pictures of it before, so i'm sure there's soon to be some new stuff on flicka to peruse. and, most importantly, i'm going to get to hang out with the commander! so much fun will be had! and i'm sure i'll eat a ton of sushi, as i apparently do that everytime i travel the world.

and in case you're curious, in the hip hop showdown, my vote's for kanye. show the man some love - he's feeling like katrina without fema!

i promise this blog will be funny again soon

it has been an interesting weekend, to be sure. for starters, i bought this book, which can only be considered dangerous when in the hands of me. i'll start taking sidekick applications after i master swinging around a flagpole. and then, as if that wasn't awesome enough, i watched "avatar", played BS and then walked home. and i gots to tell you, BS is a dang fun game, mofos. and the walking home, man, i love a good walk when i've been drinking. it really clears the head (to a degree) and makes hitting the proverbial hay that much sweeter.

saturday i did that haunted pub crawl thing in east aurora. i have to tell you, it was interesting, but i would have liked it a lot better if there hadn't been any drinking. there are a lot of people in this world who get real annoying real fast when you add booze to the mix. so, with that being said, i would love to do the allentown walk as it features some of the scariest stories (so i'm told) and no booze. oh, and apparently, if i had decided to live at 49 instead of 91, which was a very real possibility, i'd be sleeping at your house every night. if you're interested in finding out why let me know and we can pick a date! (my vote's for 10/19).

and, perhaps the best part of this weekend, i talked to a whole bunch of friends (some i haven't talked to in some time) and think i've finally started to make some progress with this whole thing called "life." at the very least, when i left my landlord a message about not living here anymore he called back and left a very nice "we can sit down and discuss options - don't worry" message. that alone would have made this weekend rock!

art imitating life imitating art...

i started reading webcomics a bit ago, and have gradually added more to my daily perusal list (except for those that only update on MWF). and every once in a while i will catch myself going, "holy shit - who snuck into my apt, set up a video camera, learned all about me and then turned my life into a webcomic?!" i give you the ones that hit me hardest.

on being an adult (i wouldn't be surprized if i did this to at least one room...)
on happiness and employment (and look - she has red hair!)
on dating (right on)
on recreation (too bad i suck at photoshop too)

those lazy days of summer

it's been quite the summer for me. i won't bore you with the details, but it's been full of lots o' change for me. and not just in the quantity (and quality, some would say) of my blogging. i've made new friends, made old ones into better ones and fell in love with a new city (it's the closest thing to paris this side of paris!) it hasn't all been easy (well, the stuff i just mentioned was) and sometimes it was downright scary and hard, but it's all for the best. and for those of you who were bored by the details over and over again, i really appreciate it now just as much as i did then.

but! the biggest change is yet to come. i am finally starting work on my resume. no, really, i am. and i'm hating every second of it, every keystroke it's taking and every bullet i'm creating. but, it has to be done. cause i'm in need of some more change. lately, as in the last couple years, i haven't been feeling very content. which is not to say that i haven't been happy and having fun, cause i clearly have been, but i need to try something new. and i don't mean a restaurant. although that could be fun too. i could live the rest of my life in b-lo and be happy. all my family's here and the majority of my friends are too. i could find another job and go visit all those fun places... but i'd really rather go live in one. there's a whole lotta stuff out there and i want to get to know it better. and to do that, i need a resume. i really wanna pay someone to write it for me but that really wouldn't solve the problem of still having to remember all the crap i've done and then i probably wouldn't like what they wrote, and, well, dammit.

so, yeah, that's what i'm spending my spare time doing when i'm not distracting myself with blogger, flickr, email or webcomics. it's almost keeping me busy enough to forget when "heroes" starts again, but really, to forget that would just be lunacy.

btw, the lincoln park zoo, shedd aquarium and "the book of liz" (featuring the best sound design ev-uhr) are 3 awesome things to do in the windy city. get to it!

eh, what's that again?

so, i went to chicago, again. and it was awesome, again. i'll be sure to post some pics, but there won't be as many of them seeing as how i did far less touristy things this time around. instead i did the "what would it be like to live here?" thing. so, i did laundry, ate fast food, went to the theatre and the movies and got really sick for a day and a half and prayed for the sweet release of death and then was really happy when my prayers weren't answered. you know, pretty standard weekend fare. what wasn't standard was going to the zoo and an aquarium - which spawned these 3 statements:

"where the hell did that hippo come from? and since when do they have hair on the ends of their tails?!"
"wow, lions roar a lot louder in real life than they do before a paramount movie" (actually, hearing a lion roar in person was one of the most humbling and awesome moments of my life.)
"so, i hope you don't think i'm a bad person, but i always get really hungry for sushi when i go to an aquarium."

udderly fun

jessanalia was a huge success. i had nothing to do with it and leave all credit up to the organizer; however, i felt the need to state the obvious. good times were had. don't believe me? check out some of the digital evidence that is now forever available on the interwebs. it's not everyday you get to see outgrabes sucking face with a bovine. and if you can't see it today either, it's cause you need to be my friend on flicka. don't be shy. i'm not going to let just any internet weirdo look at these pics. you have to be an internet weirdo that's also my friend.

i went to chicago

and it was amazing. i met some awesome people, became a minor celebrity, took a ton of pictures and can't wait to go back. for good.

random, thy name is gabsosteel

i was recently chastised (twice!) for not blogging more. which sorta surprised me, as it always does, when i find out someone reads this. but, in an effort to placate the (smallish) masses i give you the following hodgepodge/ patchwork/ mishmash of random thoughts:

• i had NO IDEA that when i said "caulk" it sounds like something else. i appreciate this knowledge and will now refer to the stuff that lines my tub as "the stuff that lines my tub."
• the speed with which i type depends entirely on what song is stuck in my head. if no song is stuck in my head i'm still typing pretty dang fast, but if it's "unchained melody" then people are just going to have to wait for their emails.
• i think the fact that i still haven't unpacked really speaks to the fact that in some intrinsic way, i fail as a human.
• the size of the suitcase that i'm taking to chicago is sure to elicit numerous laughs from the person driving me to the airport, who, for the record, is the bestest airport driver person ever. that being said, it's important to remember that i'm not overpacking for the trip, i'm making sure i have enough room to bring back all the shoes and deep dish pizza i could ever want. and let's not forget the importance of presents for others.
• i don't know what i'm more excited about: saying hi to bob the brontosaurus at the field museum, or stocking up on astronaut ice cream.
• it concerns me that when text messaging, my phone will assume i'm trying to type "shiv" before "shit." clearly, it's ok to murder as long as you don't utter any expletives while doing it.
• addendum - i realized on my calendar today that the reminder i wrote for myself was "gat consultants from hotel" - clearly text messaging is what causes the violence - not video games.
• my hair looks blonder when it's straight. i think that's how my hairdresser placates me around the time when i'm writing a check. it's probably for the best. i'm already sporting an alabaster complexion and blue eyes, if i was really blond people would start thinking i was an albino with contacts. and besides, fall is coming which means it'll be time again soon enough for dark, dark hair.
• i use the word bajillion roughly a bajillion times a day. and that, my friends, is too much.
• a doctor asked me today where i got my batman wallet from... cause his kid would love one.
  
• more so than the fact that people read this, it shocks me that people look at my flickr page. who are these people with nothing better to do? and why are there so many of them?
  
• also, everytime i logon to flickr i say in my head "flicka." i don't know why, i never saw the movie.
  

i'll link to that!

i need to do more constructive things with my time, and less of what i currently do. at least, i think that's what i should be doing. i thought about getting back into theatre, but then i remembered that i didn't really enjoy it the last time and i like not being a member of this group. i'd go jogging, but my ankle has this horrible habit of disintegrating when i do so (and you thought i was just lazy). i'd go back to school, but well, there's really no buts. that's most likely what i'll end up doing. despite the money and the fact that my family now thinks i have an addiction to learning. at least it's not crack. and really, the jokes on them. like i learned anything in mba school. other than how to do a cost/benefit analysis. and now that you've heard the phrase you know how to do one too. so, until school starts i'm going to do the yoga thing. i like it. lots. i sorta felt all zombieish after, but i'm ok with that. totally worth it. and maybe, just maybe, if i get over my fear of riding bikes on the street with all the cars driven by people that hate the bikes and more importantly hate the people on the bikes, i'll do some of that too.

i went to this party on saturday that was thrown by one of the PhD students at the roz, with every other student in attendance. the best part was when i walked in and everyone turned around with the same look on their faces. the look = "who invited the narc from HR?!" that's almost as ridiculous as accusing this guy of being a narc at a rave. but seriously, do narcs generally show up with grey goose? i think not. at any rate, i met some very fun people (once they stopped staring at me out of the corner of their collective eye) which means i now can do more than smile in the hallways and think "they prefer deluxe car washes to super kisses." i'm so wierd.

i'm also such a jerk. so, i'm going to this comic book convention, right? and i haven't even asked any of you if you want me to take stuff to get signed. you have 8 days to give me your belongings. just be gentle, i'm no sherpa, even if i am human. additionally, as this guy's gonna be there, i really need to update the ol' resume. i'm sure i'm the only person who'll be shoving one in his face. or at least, the only female. definitely the only female who wants to restructure their subscribtion service and has the moxie to tell him so. lord above, does it ever blow.

guess i found my something constructive to do.

whee!

i have a wii. we should play sometime.

come again?

i just got accepted into grad school... without applying.

Guest Appearance!

The Humanist here...Gabs has graciously turned over control of her precious blog to me. It's actually a reciprocal thing, as she guested on my blog, The Humanist, a few weeks ago. What's that? You'd like to see what she wrote? No problem....here's the link......to The Humanist. That's TheHumanist.blogspot.com

OK...enough self-promotion of The Humanist. On to the crux of the matter. Is the correct spelling "Gaby" or "Gabby" or "Gabbie" or "Ghaby"? I've just been informed that the correct spelling is with two "B's". So, "Gabybb" it is.

Next....Gaby needs more political posts. She's got a quick mind and a taste for sarcasm...essential to good political blogging.

Lastly....Gaby and I made a pact that we would not write one word on the travails of Lindsey Lohan. I don't think I'll be able to keep up my end of the bargain because Ms. Lohan is endlessly fascinating to me. Give me an alcohol-monitoring bracelet, an expensive sportscar, endless access to cocaine and various other club delights and I'd be in that mugshot too. Oops...I already was.

Thanks for the space Gaby,
The Humanist.

P.S. That's The Humanist. T-H-E H-U-M-A-N-I-S-T.

the two great tastes that taste great together

shakespeare and davy jones!

jousting and plank-walking!

turkey legs and… scurvy?

July 28 & 29th
Pirates Weekend:

Aye Mates! The Sterling Renaissance Festival will again host its Pirates Weekend July 28th & 29th. A bevy of early pirates, including Sir Francis Drake and his raucous crew will invade the festival and swashbuckle their way into the hearts of visitors with rustic sea shanties, tall tales, comedy and high adventure. This special weekend will feature the "Pirate Show", where Pirates devise fiendish punishments for unwary villagers.

Pirate songs and dance will fill the lanes, and beware lest you fall prey to a roving band and end up at the "Pirate Show" to walk the plank! Come dressed in proper seafaring attire and attend a pirate costume contest to be held at the Pubside Stage at 12:15p and "prepare to board!" this exciting Special Weekend, and don't forget your "Aarrrg!"

seriously, how is this the first time i've heard about this?

inconveivable!

i can't remember the last time i was this cranky. really, it's pretty bad. but it's my own fault. you know how there are those people in the world whose apparent sole purpose in life is to attempt to make everyone as miserable as they are? i made the terrible mistake of conversing with one of these people saturday night. why? maybe i was cornered or too nice/dumb to walk away. maybe i hoped she'd be decent this time. but no, i was wrong. and it did not go well. i've been pretty sullen ever since and i fear i took it out on someone(s) else, which i'm feeling pretty bad about (i loathe it when others take out their bad days on me, so the thought of doing that to someone else is not a comforting thought to me) and is therefore perpetuating the crankiness.

this is not to say that i didn't have a great time at boozemas. i had loads of fun! but ya know, in case you're wondering why i'm not my usual dynamic and exciting self, that's why. that, and i'm busy being confused by this statement: "i like the beach." i thought i hated the beach! other things that are perplexing to me: viognier. this, my friends, is a white wine that i will choose over reds. i didn't think it was possible. i just don't know who i am anymore. before you know it, i'll be reading books without pictures.

the j.crew i have accrued*

i just scared myself with the realization that my shirt, jeans, belt, flip flops and jacket are all from j.crew. i wonder how often this happens and i just never noticed before.

*i'd give her credit for saying this, but i'm not allowed to use her name in print anymore.

d'oh!

i can't believe i'm friends with you and didn't figure out it was you. you're a jerk. let's hang out again soon!

bad idea

if i ever again utter the phrase, "i'm going to answer this call from a private number" stop me. slap me, hit me with a rock, i don't care. there are some creepy mofos in the world and i don't ever wanna talk to any of them again. yech.

only happy when it rains

i love the rain. i love walking in it, the way the air feels (although not necessarily the way it smells) after a good rain. the way everything's all glistening, but mostly the way it sounds against my windows. the only downside is that listening to rain sorta lulls me into unconciousness so according to the weather guide i'll be blissfully useless until friday.

i don't know about you, but i had no idea i was such a cuddle fiend when drunk until such actions were cataloged and posted on the interwebs for all to see. how embarassing. but maybe it's a good thing - it can serve as a public service announcement to everyone that they run the risk of being hugged repeatedly when hanging out with me. that'll save me from having to individually warn people in my rain-induced coma.

make like a tree

and branch out. i apparently am now going to keep bottles of grey goose in everyone's freezer and borrow clothing from all of my hosts. funny story about the grey goose - it wouldn't fit on the shelf with all the other vodka, so i had to put it on the top shelf. alright, maybe that's not really a funny story, so much as an amusing antecdote. whatever.

I LOVE MY NEW HAT! love it so much that i'm wearing it right now. i think it'll be my official blogging hat. and of course, it'll come with me to my first ever comic book convention. oh man, i am so going to geek out. but, yeah, about the hat. totally worth the wait and extreme torture of knowing there was a present, but not knowing what it was. so thanks again - it fills my heart with glee!

so, i had a lot of fun last night. only problem is, sushi apparently doesn't count as dinner. also, i forgot i was on antibiotics. oops. but i met a bunch of new people and made friends again with others, ate all the baby carrots in sight and got a new hat. did i mention that yet?

went to the mall today with kim and her sister to watch them get makeovers. and all i have to say is that if you thought kim was cute before, she is totally slamming now. we will seriously never pay for drinks again.

i feel like there was something else i wanted to mention, but you're going to have to wait for me to take a nap, wake up and remember it before i tell you.

best worst pickup line ever

"you better be careful walking in the rain without an umbrella - you know sugar melts when it gets wet."

it made me chuckle. on the inside. where it counts.

and a good time was had by all...

"kim, we just reached the point in my ear infection where i've lost my sense of direction, both personally and globally. oh, and everything you say is going to be really funny!"

so, i really suck at being sick. not suck at it like i get all cranky and miserable, but suck at it as in i just become stupid and incapable of thought, which actually makes me a more cheerful and upbeat person than usual. and i promise this is the last time i'll whine about it, but i forgot what it was like. really, i did. these last 4 months i've felt like a functioning member of society. it's been great - not sleeping all the time, not going to bed at 10 PM on a saturday, not not going out at all (i'm a fan of double negatives). and while i knew that the surgery was not going to stop me from ever getting sick again, i was really kinda hoping it would. cause really, one could get used to this crazy thing called "being healthy." although, i did sorta miss the funny faces my doc makes when he looks in my ears ("ugh, stuff that color should never be there!") TMI? too bad.

oh well, at least i managed to procure items making my bathroom the cutest bathroom that ever bathroomed before i cut the evening short...

the week in review

i'm going all non-traditional and making thursday the start of the week. the start of a "oh yeah, i remember when i used to do that!" week.

thursday - i stayed at thursday in the square until the bitter end. except it wasn't bitter - it was fun! i got rained on and got the lead singer to wish a good friend a happy birthday via cell phone. and then there was jaegger!

friday - went on one of the best dates i've been on in years. years i say! :)

saturday - crashed a wedding. actually, i was invited to the wedding by someone who was crashing the wedding already, but, either way, i was not invited and still went. and everyone loved me (or was it the fedora?), naturally.

sunday - i did nothing. it was awesome. i always do nothing on sundays and it's always awesome.

monday - i called in sick, cause i was sick. good reason, right? so i slept for 19 hours (no really, humans are capable of this) and eventually felt better.

tuesday - went to allentown hardware with a verra good friend for a glass of verra good wine. ya know, i don't know why i don't go there more often. i always have a fantastic time and i don't think they have a bad bottle of wine in the place (at least not that they'd ever have the audacity to serve me). so, i'm going to go there more often. hopefully, someone will come with me.

today - no, this is what sick feels like. everything hurts, i took way too many (legal) drugs so coherent thought is nonexistant and i have no desire to partake in the plans for the evening. which is not to say that i'm going to stay home - that would be admitting defeat! but i am taking a nap. and since you stalk my blog more than you check your voicemail - call me and let me know when i should no longer be napping. :)

today is brought to you by the letter "argh!"

pirates abounded in my life today. seriously, they were all up in my face and all over the place.

firstly, i have been requested to show the store that sells these to a friend. her baby loved 'em, and now she needs more. and for the record, the one i bought was way better. and by better i mean bigger. and cuter. much cuter.

then i get emailed this. i wasn't aware that pirates often ate half chicken dinners, but i do, so i'm ok with that.

and then i'm perusing my webcomics and see a banner ad for this (sorry, greg)!

ok mr. verbinski, i can take a hint. i will go see your movie. and love the heck out of it, regardless of what the critics say.

new plan

i've gotta be on plan k by now, but here it is - marry rich. according to msnbc, it's rather easy. hang out in art galleries, buy lots of clothes and get your mba. it's like i was destined to never work again. except for tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that...

you wouldn't like me when i'm angry

i hate the new girl at work so much. and i rarely hate. oh sure, i joke about it, toss the word around like it's nuttin', but i mean, i seriously loathe this person. she is so idiotic and annoying and worthless as a human being that i actually lay in bed at night thinking about how much i hate her and how much better my life would be if i quit my job and never saw her again. really, i'm bad at hating, mostly cause i'm bad at caring but this girl is just the opposite of everything that's good in the world. ugh.

my main concern with this? the staying awake at night contemplating my hate has led me to sleep less, which has me worried that when i get the call to go crash the wedding i'll be too tired to properly fulfill my role as "best wedding date ever." which just means i'll have one more reason to hate her.

in case 17 times wasn't enough...

...thanks again for helping me move. and for your willingness to drive the wrong way down a one-way street, even though it turns out that the part of the street i live on really is two-way. and how did i figure that out? with some bastardized scientific method. i waited until the parking switched to the other side of the street and watched to see what the natives did. so, no laws were broken (other than driving backwards on my old street - but really, that's just fun), but your utter disregard for traffic safety in the interest of delivering my belongings to their new resting place goes down as two thumbs-up in my book. rock.

also, i'm so glad my landlady stopped by yesterday and informed me that the blinds to my apt are outside. this is a good thing because 1) i was going to buy blinds tonight and 2) now i won't have to look at my neighbors, unless i want to. which i don't.

lastly, and i can't believe i haven't mentioned this yet - i own a fedora. i purchased it like, an hour before i signed the lease, which i guess overshadowed the whole "fedora-thing." but, yeah, i love it. it makes life better.

moving on up

...and on the eighth day god created the internet, and saw that it was good. and then no one ever did anything productive again. i think in my next life i want to be a cable gal. the cable people alway seem so happy. maybe it's because they know they spend their days bringing joy to those people who would otherwise be forced to do things like unpack or fit all of their clothes in their own closet. it has to be a rather fulfilling job. just like working at disneyworld.

well, i don't really know if this place is a step up. i mean, in some respects the place is much better, but i'm really missing my skylights and ginormous bathroom. i'm missing that place in general, truth be told, but i'm also really glad i don't live there anymore. i realize that sounds incredibly contradictory, but i stand by my statement.

my favorite quote from the whole moving experience?
"so, are we moving the cleaning supplies last?"
"we're not moving them at all - i have issues with cross-contamination"
"what? they're cleaning supplies - they clean"
"look, i am not taking grime from one apt. and putting it in another - that's just sick!"
i really like to throw stuff out. i'm seriously considering ditching a bunch of my furniture. of course, i would feel like a jerk ditching it after someones who are not me carried it here, so nevermind, i'm keeping all of it. and treasuring it always.

also, i'm really enjoying the fact that the combined total of the 37 minutes i spent outside this weekend significantly lightened my hair. take that hairdresser - i'm going to be blond whether you like it or not! even if i have to do it the old-fashioned, sans chemicals, free way!

well, this is strange. i've been craving the internet for the last two days, and now that i have it i sorta wanna go outside. and that's exactly what i'm going to do. especially since my bed is too heavy for me to rearrange my bedroom myself. and yes, i know i've only had it setup for 2 days.

moving is fun!

well, perhaps moving isn't fun, but parts of it can be fun. such as:

"this pile of boxes is all shoes, but not all of my shoes."
"oh, that's cool... wait, the whole pile is all your shoes?!"
"well, not all of them..."

"these boxes are really heavy"
"they're full of clothes"
"they're still heavy"

"remember when you dived in front of a car to save the remote?"
"dude! time warner will charge you $15 if you don't return the remote!"

"can we drink wine on our patio?"
"yeah, sure. all the time."
"i mean, starting now."
"umm, could we just sit on the living room floor instead?"
"good idea. this way i can watch the cops give me a ticket."

"i think our new neighbors have a kid named apache."
"i don't believe you."
"i couldn't make that up - it's too good!"
(one car load later)
"hey, the other kid's named bombay!"
"now you're the one making things up."
"no, really. i wonder if the third's named cactus."

really, it should not be this amusing. but i'm glad it is.

just in case...

...you were as curious as we were, the bartender's last name is not quinn.

...you ever plan on making it an early night and eric asks if he can come out it's really best to just say "no." oh, sure, he'll probably whine and show up anyways, but at least then you'll have made an effort to avoid the "just one more round" again, and again, and again...

...you were wondering, i'm not always as intelligent as i would like everyone to believe, but this always has entertaining results. allow me to demonstrate the fun by transcribing the following conversation:
e - "next time, we're hanging out in my neighborhood"
g - "you live two blocks from here"
k - "yeah, i had to travel from tonawanda!"
e - "did you take a sherpa?"
k - "yeah, i left it at gabby's with some water and oats"
g - "it's probably eating my shoes as we speak"
k - "you know sherpas are humans, right?"
g - "then why are you giving it oats?!"

...i mention a desire to go back to school, again, remind me of these following things please:
1) i hate going to class and having to study, albeit rare, though it was.
2) no need to break six figures on the student loans.
3) i don't know what state, much less city, i'll be living in next year. sorta hard to pick a school that way.

random is good

is it any wonder that HEAT and HATE are comprised of the same 4 letters? honestly, i really shouldn't complain. not that that's ever stopped me before...

there are two things that are always going to happen when i try to take a nap. suddenly, my phone will start ringing non-stop. the other is some jackass will start doing yardwork. the "yard" in question today was my own. "yours?" you ask, and rightfully so. i don't have a yard! i wanted to shout out the window - "hey, 3 days before i leave you decide to tackle the vegetation and make this not look like a crackhouse? seriously?!" so, you know, that was cool.

also, if you or anyone you know has a cat that would enjoy a never-been-used scratching post/cubby hole/dangly toy thing, please come and take it. my cat is far too ghetto-fab to play with store bought things. she prefers old socks and shoe boxes.

and on the list of random things to do this week is to go to a kinda sorta not really sure if it is but most likley is job interview with an open bar thursday night. my aunt's taking me to the buffalo spree best of buffalo party (we're vips, natch) and they apparently want to contract me for some events. that's all well and good except for three things:
1. i'm not sure if my new dress is "schmoozing appropriate," but i'm wearing it anyways
2. there's a good chance once they learn that i don't plan all star night that they won't want to talk to me anymore. but really, that's ok - then i'll just hit up the open bar.
3. i have no idea what events buffalo spree does. i know all about shopping sprees, spree candy and i even know that the spree is a river in germany (thanks google!) but i have no idea what the buffalo spree does, other than publish magazines i've never read. care to help me out? there's some cat furniture in it for you if you do...

late breaking news

baby wickham is walking. next stop video games. :)

bad habit

when it comes to the game of "stay home from work," i suck. i've already checked my work email 4 times and spoken to work twice. i'd say i need a hobby, but it'd be more accurate to say i need to spend time with my hobbies.

not that i should be hobbyizing today. i need to be packing. and i am, but it's so boring... it's just that i want to go do fun things outside like walk around the marina instead of sitting on my kitchen floor and figuring out which fake-tupperware containers are missing lids so i can throw them out. and i can't hear rhapsody in my kitchen. you see my dilemma, i'm sure.

but, the sooner i get this done the sooner, i get to go take that walk, right?

free _allin

due to one incredibly fun-filled night at the wild mushroom approximately 17 bajillion years ago i am incapable of listening to tom petty"s "free fallin" without replacing all the fallins with ballins and substituting my own lyrics. just thought you should know.

btw, does anyone else find that an apostrophe is just not allowed on blogger?

all good things

you know you ate way too many potato chips the night before when you go home, brush your teeth, go to sleep and still wake up the next morning with a mouth that tastes like potato chips. this is disturbing, and strangely delicious.

alright, now that the potato chip issue has been resolved allow me to update you on packing. i'm not doing it. i am throwing stuff out like a mofo, but i have very few things in boxes. however, when i was asked by my family yesterday if i would like blank, where blank is a random object, i did have the mental aptitude to say, "no, if i take it, then i have to move it. this is an entirely unacceptable situation." i may have used those exact words.

my stomach hurts. i'm blaming the potato chips.

so, i had this huge mountain of clothes that i was going to get rid of becuase they didn't fit anymore. this made me sad, because i love my clothes but happy that i wouldn't have to move them. now i'm happy that they fit, but sad that i have to move them. hopefully kim only owns like, 12 articles of clothing so i can use her closet too.

i really need to call my landlord and find out what the "toilet in the dining room" situation is. additionally, now that i have a way to get the couch out of the apt (i'm really hoping you weren't kidding about lowering the couch off the balcony, cause i'm banking on that right now) now i need a way to get it to the new place. so, uh, anyone have a pickup truck or know someone who does? if yes, i will buy you two bottles of your drink of choice as oppossed to the one that everyone else gets (and yes, i know exactly what i'm getting myself into).

my sister's graduation was really nice yesterday, even though my camera kept being a jerk. so i don't really have any pics of my sister "graduating," but i have some good ones of what came after. i'll post them after i've done something that warrants a break.

and i am never eating potato chips again.

two of a kind

my new favorite bartender has the same name as my cat. this is incredibly convenient as now i only need to remember one name to yell when i'm annoyed. no really, it's ok, my cat doesn't mind and the bartender encouraged me to give him a talking to if he didn't serve me fast enough. i think he's responding well to the therapy.

sometime during sample wednesday i also decided that it would be a good idea to not do anything i'm not willing to blog about. that being said, i have nothing to blog about.

Tomorrow is the 3 month anniversary of my surgery. That’s 3 months of not being sick. May seem incredibly small and insignificant a timeframe – but this is the first 3 months in longer than I care to remember that I haven’t called in sick, begged a secretary for a doctor’s appt, taken antibiotics or laid in bed asking “why, god, why?” so yeah, I’m rather stoked about the whole thing. Huzzah for modern medicine!

for bob

spidey v. batman, round 2

it's the end of the world...

guesstimating is now accepted by MS word as a real word. czech it out.

kick

did you ever meet a person who made you stop and seriously ponder how they've managed to live this long without dying or having their face kicked in or dying because their face was kicked in? well, the queen of them all works in my office. and i dare say, she has won. she broke my spirit, i have no fight left. if you need me, i'll be staring dejectedly at the internets.

taking care of business

i just signed a lease to a place with a back yard.

my summer job just may involve asskicking awesomery

i'ma gonna go celebrate. :)

take a picture

well, that was actually a lot more fun than i was expecting. i didn't get grilled nearly as extensively as i feared. the conversation pretty much went:
"so where are you going to live?"
"i don't know"
"and where are you going to work after october?"
"i don't know!"
"and are you still going to europe for a mo nth?"
"i don't know!!"
"could you pass the wine?"
"i don't k- oh, yeah, sure - here you go."

at any rate, i will be answering the first question tomorrow and will be signing a lease. either at the awesome place with a back yard, or at the place that i think my former stalker once occupied. if it is that house, it's beautiful. i'd rather stay in allentown, but back yard house has forbidden me to take harlee with me, which i haven't had the heart to break to her yet. we'll see what the stalker house landlord has to say about feline occupants.

oh, i'm also going to have to skip the "house-cooling" party. i know, big surprize there. but, it turns out i can't do it on the 23rd cause my sister's graduation is later than we thought and promptly followed by a 50th birthday party (not for my sister). how much fun could a 50th birthday party be, do you ask? a lot. they have a hot tub and make the best damn martinis you could ever hope to taste. and they have a karaoke machine. but, i promise, promise, promise that i will have a house-warming party and that we can still play beer pong and flip cup in the dining room of whichever new place i choose. actually, we can still do that any night the last week of june at my current place, if you want.

and lastly, i took 113 photos today of the flowers at my parents and aunts house. that's just, a lot. and going to take forev-uhr to upload to flickr. totally worth it, though.

family affair

so, who's ready for a fun-filled, action-packed, family day? normally, i would be all about it, but i have a feeling i'm going to be the center of attention at this one - and family affairs are the one time i'd love to divert the spot light to someone else. maybe my sister got her tattoo and everyone can focus on that instead.

by the by, this is what i was talking about last night. it's even funnier in color. and it's on june 30. and i just added to my closet two more j.crew dresses. soon, the entire collection will be mine...

strawberry fields.

it's official - i'm no longer a redhead. i'm not exactly a blonde either. i think i'm rocking the best of both worlds.

old apartment

i had my mind completely blown last night. as in, i was actually speechless and incapable of thought. not a common occurence. you think after living with someone you know them, and then you find out they're an adultress. not exactly a cheerful revelation. don't get me wrong, i still love the girl - once you achieve friend status i'm all about giving the unconditional love. but, umm, yeah, still sorta in shock about how people will try to rationalize just about any behavior.

i've also come to the conclusion that i give really crappy advice when i'm drinking. which is a shame, i could've used my A game last night. i'm going to go ahead and not be hard on myself since i'm a tad preoccupied as of late, but still, i would've liked to have been able to do/say more. fortunately, i think i'll have a chance to make it up tonight. this is something worth staying dry for.

talk tonight

i love when the drunk give the drunk advice, and it actually ends up being good. rock on.

wonder wall

gabby would like all of you to know that when she's laying in bed dying of liver failure, she'll think kindly of all of you who said, "you know, you should be drunk more often - you're more fun that way."

like it was meant to be...

"well, we can go shopping and get baby carrots while we discuss apartments"
"wait, how did you know about the baby carrots?!"
"what do you mean, i love baby carrots"
"no, i love baby carrots - i eat them all the time!"
"ohmygod, we will be the best roommates ev-uhr!"

wrong way

did you ever say to yourself, "why couldn't i make the easy decision?" like, hypothetically, why couldn't i just suck it up and move to nyc like i've always wanted and at least then have been happy to find an apt the size of one of my current closets that only costs $600 plus utilities? why? well, for starters, it would've sorta made me a jerk. and for enders, i would have hated myself for being that jerk.

don't get me wrong, i'm entirely happy with the decision i made and would make it again, it's just i hate looking for apts. i hate it more than the actual moving process. it's like looking for a new job, except the deadline has ginormous reprecussions. i hate reprecussions. they're mean.

in other news, i am again gainfully employed. as a secretary. i got my mba, and now i'm a secretary. and not like the one from "secretary," unfortunately. le sigh. technically, i'm an executive assistant and i'll make the same pay for potentially less work/stress, but still, it sorta sucks. better than being unemployed, but not really a "resume builder." i can just imagine explaining this one to people i interview with. "so, what happened here?" "well, i, umm, at the last minute decided to throw my life in a tail spin and spend the next 3 months rinsing out coffee mugs, for the fun of it?" "great, we'll give you a call... later."

oddly enough, i still don't feel stress so much as an overwhelming desire to spend all of my time shopping. this cannot be a good sign.

left to my own devices

i'm forsaking the red. we had a lot of great times together but i've moved on. it's time to try something new. time to throw caution to the wind and jump headlong down the path i've already chosen.

i'm going blond.

drastic, i know. but really, i think it'll be ok. better than ok, even.

additionally, it suddenly dawned on me that the last time i went to a different city was 2 years (YEARS!) ago. that's pathetic, on my part. the thing is, when you date someone long distance you spend all your time off and money visiting them, or being visited by them. so yeah, i've been to nyc a lot, but no where else. i plan on changing that. first things first - toronto on june 30. what better way to say goodbye to my current apt then by being an expatriate for a weekend? a sure to be fantastic weekend.

also on the list:
chicago
DC
paris
london
sterling - greg, we really need to make this happen this year. fo' reals.

sounds of our lives

remember when we were on the porch and all of you demanded new ring tones for when you call my phone? well, i hate the ones you picked. they suck. the thought of you calling me actually fills me with dread. so, effective immediately, you will be returning to the following:

• male drinking buddies will ring to "tubthumping"
• bff and vice bff to "girls just wanna have fun"
• other females to "short skirt, long jacket" (not that any of you dress this way, but feel free to start)
• i think i'm going to give my sister the "mr. softee" ringtone. she loves ice cream more than anyone else i know.
• text messages will remain as "sex and the city," regular calls as "batman: the animated series" and lack of caller ID as "the x-files."

so let it be written, so let it be done.

hey man, nice shot

ok, so maybe i was a little harsh with regards to the poor driver man last night, but i can't help it. i've been listening to a lot of angry music lately - which is really the only kind i idenify with as that's what was popular during my formative years. although i always bathed regularly i spent the majority of my youth wrapped in one of my dad's flannels. but never in the summer. i may have been an angry and pissed off teen, but i wasn't stupid. summers were for cute tanktops and houseparties. one had to keep their priorities straight.

i hate stupid people

myself included. i realize that as of late i've spent approximately 87% of my waking hours trashed, but that notwithstanding, buffalo cab drivers are the worst. if you are a cab driver in buffalo your sole purpose in life is to cart drunk people from point a to point b. of course, on occasion you have to drive the people who can't drive due to their need for crazy mexican eye surgery that doesn't work (i'm fortunate enough to belong to both groups), but that being said, it's always best to assume your fare is trashed and therefore, wisest to not throw your automobile into reverse. cause really, the threat of running over my finely pedicured toes is not doing much for your annual gross income. and yes, i'm aware of the fact that it's not wise to cross behind motor vehicles, but if they are at a complete stop when you start, it should be excused. and so, i'll quote one of my favorite bands, "i really think you'd be better off if you were dead." it's ok, i don't mind the walk.

it's good...

• to have a plan
• to have a plan B. and plans C-F for that matter
• to wear your favorite pants 3 days in a row - and to hell with anyone who disagrees
• to listen to sad love songs, and not feel the least bit sad
• to make new friends and catch up with the old ones
• when all you need is your own company to have fun
• to get an ego boost and slew of free drinks from a cute boy, even if he is a crazed half scottish paratrooper from the royal canadian air farce who got into a knife fight with a pakistani during the war on terror and then makes sure your friend isn't pakistani after he opens the switchblade and then tells you he has a son, but doesn't like to talk about him. it makes him sad.
• to always have a good story to tell the next day
• to listen to your favorite songs cranked to eleven
• to be the center of attention (god, i love that)
  
• to walk the allentown art fest 3 times and not buy a single thing other than fresh-squeezed lemonade
• to be a pretty, pretty princess
• to be happy with the present and ecstatic for the future
  
• to know and really, truly believe that the best is yet to come
  

i'm only happy when it rains

i love thunderstorms. always have. they never scared me as a kid, or at the very least, i stopped finding them scary at the age of 10 when i had to be brave for the little sister who inevitably would crawl into my bed. it was really cute of her - "gabby, i'm safe here, right?" "yes, sweetie, i won't let anything hurt you." aww.

at any rate, one of the reasons i've stayed in this apt for 3 years despite my crackwhore of a landlord is my obsession with skylights. i love 'em. there is nothing better than laying on the couch and watching the rain stream down. i almost signed a lease that was $400 more a month than what i currently pay just so i could have skylights in 3 rooms instead of one. yeah, i gots issues. at any rate, i posted some truly craptacular pictures of a thunderstorm as seen through my roof on flickr. here's hoping it a) rains again in the next 14 days and b) i learn how to use my camera before then. wish me luck.

new record

i just hit an all time low. i left work early to go out drinking - and then didn't go out drinking. i'm not sure what this says about me, but i'm sure the words "jerk," "lame" and "going to get a beat down tomorrow" come to mind.

sometimes i'm such a fecking cretin.

i do believe

i look really good in fedoras. everyone does. therefore, i am going to buy the adorable one i saw at clutch and wear the heck out of it. it's going to be awesome.

note to self

when going out drinking, eat first. if that's not an option, don't wear heels. really, this is for the best.

your opinions matter

there are two very important issues at hand: hair color and parties. please, don't be stingy with your recommendations; no one can improve if they don't get positive feedback.

issue the first
i'm not sure what to do about my hair color. should i:
a) return to the sultry red of yore
b) try a dark, smoking hot brunette look
c) continue down this path to blondom
d) keep it the same
e) pull a britney

issue the second
the original plans for a going away party have been scraped, as i'm not actually going anywhere, just yet. however, i do have this gigantic apartment that is begging for a party. we'll call it a "house-cooling" party, and thankee to the person who provided the name. it'll be just like a house-warming party except i'll give you the presents and i won't care how much you spill on the rugs. i'm just throwing them out anyway. but, because i'm incapable of throwing a party for less than 1,000 people (and i've done the math - they won't fit) i need your help. please tell me:
a) your favorite drink - otherwise i'm going to resort to martinis and beer, with margaritas for good measure
b) 5 songs you want to hear - and no, i will not play elliot smith
c) where i can find ping pong balls so i can skool all of you in beer pong
d) if june 16 or 23 is prefered

thanks for your help, and have a great day

time wasters

i was recently invited to this thing called "facebook." facebook joins a long list of highly regarded "keeping in touch thingees" that i have accounts for and ignore. but not this time! i'm committed. i made a profile and i'm going to go find more friends and have fun with it! i'm not too sure why. i think it might be the adorable icons.

at any rate - here's the internet space i'm wasting:
www.livejournal.com - updated 2 short years ago!
www.friendster.com - i think i've been evicted
www.myspace.com - it's got nuttin'!

in other news, i've recently lost my ability to sleep. this means that i'm going to have a lot more time to write, and it's going to be a lot less coherent. which may end up being fun...

i'm in ur tent, drinking ur beer

so tonight is the M*A*S*H bash at the red cross. i'm looking forward to it. even though i really wanted to wear my pink dress and be a pretty princess and have since been informed that this is a casual event. dammit. but, i do get to wear my "on a mission" shirt which is always a conversation starter, or ender.

"what's your mission?"
"getting away from you"

expect updates tomorrow.

see also - origins

bah

this is never a good time of year for me. between the humidity and blazing sun i'm constantly paranoid that my hair is about to explode and that i smell bad. i'm managing the hair thing pretty well so far, although this new product has a tendency to make my hair 80s-crunch-tastic. that, however, is still better than having my hair be wider than my shoulders. much better. as far as the stanky-phobia goes - if there's a water shortage in b-lo, blame it on me. sorry.

my cat has recently decided to do her best to return to a life on the streets. the truly frightening thing is that she has no issue with trying it from second story windows. my cat = not smart. i may have to declaw her for her own safety, cause i don't know how much longer the screens can hold her weight.

i'm going to the MASH bash tomorrow, which is most of the reason that i'm home blogging as oppossed to porching at this very moment. i'm looking forward to it - i have no idea what i'm going to wear, but i do know that i will have much fun drinking copious amounts of free wine with alanna. wine makes me utterly ridiculous - more so than usual. want to see what that's like - you know how to reach us.

and the other reason i came home. i'm freaking exhausted. the short weeks are always the killers. plus, tomorrow i have 3 big meetings and rougly 17 bajillion things to teach the two new employees how to do. and i need to start being nice to the annoying one. bah, indeed.

ennui

is that french? if it's not, it should be. it's that perfect blend of snotty/emo that screams "je ne sais quoi." but only screams on the inside, like all proper euro trash. mustn't distract from the brightly colored sneakers with loud noises.

so yeah, i'm having one of those days where i feel guilty for being at work. i'm not getting anything done. part of the problem is that i don't actually have anything to do, and the rest of the problem is that i just don't want to. i rarely have this problem at work - i just make myself do it. but right now, all i want to do is go sit outside and get some sun (it's ok, pink looks good on me) and call all my friends and share long distance margaritas. or read alanna's french text books and brush up on my vocab. but, being paid to update my blog - not high on my "want to do" list. going out tonight and celebrating my news from yesterday - top o' the list.

at any rate, i'm really looking forward to this summer and seeing how many times i can drag jess to cozumel in the middle of the day. and staying up much too late drinking far too much and laughing far too loud. and figuring out where i'm going to be living.

oh, btw, i'm opening up the job search to chicago and DC. DC the city, as oppossed to the publisher. so, you gots connections, i've gots resumes.

ok. time to earn my paycheck. i can do this - only 13.75 days left...

good to know

there are few things in life that can't be solved by talking to an old (as in long-time, since this one is younger than me) friend. and if you're talking while munching on a jim's steakout chicken finger sub and drinking a glass of red, it gets that much better that much faster.

i'm nervous about the move. rationally, i know it's going to be fine. it really is. even if i don't have a job or place to live right away, i can always stay with my parents. not ideal, but it could work. so yes, when i use the rational side of my brain i'm totally fine. but it's when i let the unrational (and albeit larger) side of my brain take over i start to freak a bit. this whole "no plan" thing is very new to me and while i'm liking it, it does make me spazz now and again, regardless of how cool i try to play it off.

seriously?

i caught my fifth bouquet last night. FIFTH. and the wierd part is, i don't try to catch them, i don't push people out of the way. heck, i don't even really stand near the front. but they always come straight at my head. so i'm not catching them so much as making sure doc fowler's handiwork doesn't get destroyed. at any rate, it's a lovely bunch of blooms and if i hadn't been so annihalated when i got home perhaps i would have put them in water instead of allowing them to shrivel on my coffee table.

speaking of booze - i think it's best to not drink 6 martinis. not due to the alcohol content (pshaw to that), but rather due to the salt. i was so dehydrated this morning that i'm surprized i wasn't all wrinkly. so, from now on, it's a limit of 4 martinis and then tonics the rest of the night. also, scotch tastes like ass and i'd always prefer to pay for top shelf then drink free well. cause ya know, i make a bajillion dollars a minute.

i made a new friend yesterday! her name is kim. everyone, say hi to kim! kim's fun and always ready to do shots. she also spits when she's drunk and trying to make a point, which makes me feel better for spilling my water. two sloppy drunks are better than one!

but i don't have anything to wear!

i'm going to a wedding on saturday. if you'd like to be my date (you lucky, lucky man/woman) i need to konw by 4:30 PM on thursday. your meal choices are filet mignon, chicken or shrimp. i'd like it if you ordered the shrimp so we could each have mini surf and turfs.

oh, and the open bar is strictly top shelf. now stop drooling. that's not becoming on a would-be date.

i'll link to that!

as some of you may have been forced to hear about, i have been obsessed for the last 7 months with finding a pair of grass green, patent leather, open toe heels. in my size. apparently, these don't exist. i got really close at shoe fly last week, but they were more of a shamrock green, than a grass green. i was going to go for it, for $40 who could beat it, but apparently i needed midget feet. so, a no go.

(as an aside, i apparently named my cat after one of my favorite shades of green. who knew?!)

so, i became desperate. i've searched google. and piperlime (where the good shoes start at $300). and more google. and then some zappos. then i remembered i tried a pair on at aldo. they sorta made my toes look funny, but hey, i'm desperate! and i figured they'd have more. well, they did. i still wasn't able to get the perfect shoe, but it came close in orange. which is fine, as the color was still a bit too jungle green for my taste. and then i got this. combined, they would make one fan-fucking-tastic shoe. for now, i'll settle for two.

color me pleasently surprised

i managed a "b" in that last class. guess i really am smrt after all.

btw, i'm thinking pleasently surprised is periwinkle in color.

2 things before bed

to the girl i saw crying in the bathroom cause her boyfriend dumped her during exam week - your friend was doing a pretty good job telling you what you needed to hear but what she didn't say, and i should have, is this - any guy who dumps you during exam week isn't worth it. no, really. he's not the one, he isn't making a mistake, you can't convince him otherwise and it truly does suck, but if you want to find someone who doesn't make you cry and feel small you need to a) realize you deserve better, b) take the final and c) remember that you deserve better. now blow your nose, you're getting boogery.

the movie i was thinking of is "the remains of the day" and it does not have daniel day lewis in it. however, it does have superman in it, so i'm sure everyone will still want to watch it.

gabsosteel, mba*

as of 8:27 last night i am officially free (FREE!) from school. i did the run-skip of true glee out of alfiero, neveer to return. the fast paced texting of "i'm done - who wants to party?!" quickly followed.

in all honesty, i didn't feel any different until a couple hours ago, when i was lamenting all the stuff i'd have to do when i got home from work. and then it hit me. i have nothing to do when i get home! this is f-ing awesome.

oh - just in case you haven't heard - saturday's festivities have been moved to prespers (aka prespa). still scheduled to start promptly around 9:30ish.

*providing i passed the final. although, even if i fail the final i can still pass the class, but that just feels like cheating. not that i'd complain, no siree. d is for diploma, all the way.

couldn't resist

superhero quiz

i got two questions wrong (but they were on marvel so it matters not) and i'm apparently smarter than dr. doom. hurray!

(i have to say though, that i do enjoy answer b for the green lantern question. if i was a superhero, i'm sure that would be how i got my power.)

no excuses

even though i got burned yesterday and probably should stay out of the sun today, i still find it to be cruel and almost unbearable to have to stay inside and write a paper today. i could go and take my neighbor her junk mail that was mistakenly delivered to me, but that would just be a tease and make it even harder to go inside and stay there.

i found my phone!

thank god, i was starting to freak out about that. how would i find out when it was time to drink/hangout/gossip if i didn't have a phone for people to tell me? but, i learned my lesson. a purse with 10 pockets ten-tuples the chances of misplacement. and "doh!"-ishness.

so, i'm looking forward to this weekend. some good ol' pony racing and mexican holidays. i'm sure they'll go great together. and since we're starting drinking at 2 pm i'll be home in bed early enough to rest up for a day of writing a paper and studying for an exam on sunday. good times.

oh, so i graduate on saturday. johnny's coming in on friday but i may be selfish and not share him that night. but on saturday i think we should all go to mother's and get sloppy. or watch me get sloppy, whichever you prefer. we'll probably get there around 8ish but need to eat, so if you want to join us for food call my newly found phone, or we'll see you anytime after that.

rock.

11 days to go...

i just tried on my cap and gown. it was... wierd. and those hoods are just a pain. i really think the sole purpose of the hood is to remind you that no matter how many degrees you get, you will always feel like a fool trying to "turn the hood inside out" whilst wearing it.

oh, this is kinda fun. not as much fun as the real thing, but it's a good way to pass a commercial break.

WOO HOO!

i just attended my last every class tonight! i never have to sit through boring lectures again!

this is fan-fucking-tastic.

and yes alanna, we will both do some serious celebratory drinking tomorrow.

officially official

June 20, 2007, is my last day of work at the Roz. That's just 15 days after my 6 year anniversary. 6 years! I started there when I was 21 - a mere infant by most standards. I was so shy and nervous. At least, I think I used to be...

At any rate, it was a hard decision to make. I like Roswell. I like knowing all the people, players, vending machines and my job. But I'm happy that I resigned. Cause that means I get to move to NYC! And live with Johnny again. And buy awesome shoes. These are all very good things.

And I have to say, people at Roswell have been great about this. Offering to put me in touch with their contacts in NYC, not yelling at me for leaving... I'll miss it. But I'm really looking forward to July.

(And of course I'm going to miss all of you too. Don't be silly. I just don't want to write about it cause I'll get all droopy and need a hug and I'm home alone. So, if you really want to know, ask me at 44. Oh, god! I'm gonna miss 44 too!)

man, oh man

i am becoming a full-fledged dork. i don't even think i can really hide it all that well anymore. sure, i'll still dress up nice and do my best to not scare the children, but you give me a chance and i will give you a fully annotated discourse on comic books. i'll make plans to go comic book shopping and when i get to Queen City Books and discover them to be sold out of Nightwing Annual #2 (are there really that many other girls in Buffalo who collect comics?!) it'll take some effort for me to not call johnny and ask him to go pick it up at Forbidden Planet and overnight it to me.

oh well. it could be worse. at least it's not stamp or coin collecting. and it's not like comic books have become so all important in my life that i can't function and/or have become destitute. i don't read the books til my homework's done (nevermind that i leave new copies at a friend's house to reduce temptation) and i stay within a budget.

and besides, some good's come of it. i've got one more person on my side of the Batman/Superman debate. :)

secret fortunes

perhaps you've seen them - they look like soda pop cans touting that insides a seed that will reveal a secret fortune if you only promise to give it lots of water and love. thing is, they're not much of a secret - flip the can over and there's a sticker telling you that your "secret fortune" will be something like, "i love you" or "you're great!" not really fortunes, but neither are the things inside cookies nowadays. and then i found one (one!) that didn't have a sticker. it's fortune was unknown. "you're adventurous," my mom joked. "that's just the way i roll," i retorted. so, for the last 10 days i've been waiting for my fortune. know what it is? "adventures await."

i'm feeling pretty good about this.

if she was my landlord...

... i would never move.

The Landlord

ranting and raving

i had my first day back to work today - which was fine, really. things were not nearly as close to a state of disaster as i thought it'd be. and i can breathe, which is absolutely lovely. i really will not get tired of that any time soon.

however, i did do more by 10:30 AM then i have in the previous two weeks. combined. sitting at a bar drinking is nothing. running all over a campus after having your nose (accidentally) hit twice during easter dinner - that's something.

so by 4PM i was exhausted and my face hurt and i was dizzier than i had been in days. which would be fine if i didn't have homework due tomorrow. so i came home, took some (legal and prescribed to me for this very purpose) drugs and waited for them to kick in.

oh, they've kicked in alright. i feel stoned. i've reread the same page 4 times and i still don't get it. so, i'm dropping out of school - with 3 weeks left - and quitting my job. i give up. if you need me, i'll be the one in the soggy cardboard box under the overpass.

yes, that is matt damon

and this is the song i was referring to last night. you must see this movie!

scotty doesn't know

my precious...

i finally bought it! oh, it's so sparkly and pretty in real life...

dude

i have not been this bored in a long time. and it's only going to get worse. my doc told me i need to stay off work for another week, just because. well, just because and because i still get dizzy and light headed. now, i'm not complaining that i don't have work, i'm complaining that i don't have anything else to do. i could clean, but i have a 4 oz. weight restriction and i get motion sick if i move too much. i could do my homework, but, that's just ridiculous. i already watched all the good movies on the free on demand, and i fear what i'll do with the $4 ones. although, "miami vice" was pretty good.

so, i sit either on the couch or at my computer, typing idly. and reading GQ, compliments of a good friend. i like taking the men's style quizzes, mostly cause i get all the questions right, for some odd reason. who knew that knowing the difference between prince of wales check and glen plaid would ever come in handy. but really, asking me the difference between houndstooth and herringbone? too easy.

czech it out

i'm so bored that i'm editing a post that i wrote while bored.

wanna read all about my surgery and see some gross pics? then click on this: the nose knows. but i'm warning you - the pics really are gross. and please don't think that if you don't read my "medical blog" that i'll be upset. that would be silly of me. i mostly wrote it for people who are thinking of having the surgery done - not for people who need to be able to look at me without having revolting images pop into their head. :)

but, back to the point. if you are going to read the icky blog, wait a bit. it's in deperate need of editing and fun anecdote adding.

turtle power?

anyone wanna go see TMNT tomorrow? don't be shy... you know you wanna.

hey there blogger

it's been a while. i woulda posted from hamburg but my parents live in the stoneage (i.e. have dial up) and i can't stand it.

so, the surgery went well. i'll start that new blog and post the full story and yucky pics for those who want to see, but for now i'll give you the synopsis.

• anesthesia made my throat very sore and my brain become paranoid that everyone would see my bum when i went to the potty.
• btw, those IV poles are heavy, which is lame.
• my nose looks normal on the outside, but i have to keep squiriting this gel up it so that it stays moist and heals right, which makes me look and sound like a snot nosed kid. especially since i have to keep snorting it back up and cannot blow my nose for the next 2 weeks.
• this makes me very sad cause while i feel well enough to hang out, i'm too gross for the public to see me. the upside is that stores let me use their employees only bathroom, probably so i'll just get out of their line of sight.
• my cat is obsessed with me. she needs to see me, and preferably be touching me, at all times. apparently 5 days is too long for a fuzz ball to be left alone.
• i miss my parents.
  

“They’re always after ‘me Lucky Charms!”

i saw a leprechaun today. a real one. in roswell's lobby. he was short, fat, in a green 3-piece suit with a bushy red beard, a mischevious grin, knobby walking stick and pot o' gold. i have to tell you, leprechauns are less short and more fat than general mills would have you believe. i'm convinced he was real because i didn't notice him until i almost ran into him, and no one else seemed to notice him except for one wee little irish dancer. it's like he was one of the underground people from that neil gaiman book and i could see him cause i killed the beast. and i do believe it was the luck o' the irish that helped me find my keys later. either that, or it was the luck o' the italian boss who's capable of reading my mind.

i decided to watch "the departed" tonight to get in the mood for st. patty's day. what an incredible movie. i still don't think leo is cute, but now i respect him as an actor. and marky mark should play an angry guy in movies more often. boston looks like it has some gorgeous neighborhoods that i'd love to visit, but i would always stand out as a tourist. i'm in capable of saying "sawr."

mission: wear green was a success. tomorrow will be the seventh day with no problem. the fact that no one noticed probably means i've unintentionally done this before. next year, i'll remember to kick off on march 1. and learn how to say "sawr."

public service announcement

odd

i was walking home from work, bopping along to the beat in my head, when someone yelled out of their car window "get a perm!"

i found that to be rather peculiar and a tad noteworthy.

grrr...

peter martin called me.

hbo isn't working.

my aquarium shrimp crawled out of the tank and died somewhere in my dining room causing an awful stench and i can't find it. i now live in constant fear that someone may want to come upstairs.

i so do not approve.

decisions, decisions...

i've been trying to figure out what i want to do when i graduate. i'm going to europe, i mean, that's a given. free room and board cannot be passed up in foreign lands. and it'd be nice to see the fam again.

but what after that? i was thinking i would just work, but then i perused the ye ol' royal toybox and thought, "hmm, maybe i should go to law school so i can learn to talk like this and specialize in labor law, a field recently near and dear to my heart. or, i could get my masters in something i'm actually passionate about and remember all the correct, technical terms for when i am faced with great works of art." (honestly, i was already contemplating these two ideas, but couldn't find a good way to segue into them before).

if i could afford to go to school full-time and not work i would. for forever. but, alas, that is not a possibility for me. my guess for the future? i'll work for a while and spend my new found free time in the evenings amassing a greater comic books collection (i barely have any of the robins!) and learning how to swear in foreign languages. my brain needs a rest.

i'm also thinking of starting a new blog so people can read about my septoplasty adventures, if they so choose. mostly i'm doing this to repay the karma. i read some septoplasty blogs and they helped me, so i think i need to return the favor. have i ever mentioned before that i'm afraid of karma? i find it terrifying.

i had no idea!

who knew the prestige was not only a souce of very attractive men but also a source of historical facts! thanks steamjournal!

recently, one of the overly fertile female roswellians in HR spawned a truly beautiful baby boy and gave him an irish name. while the mother is the devil incarnate (only more putrid) the whole thing reminded me of this lovely 4th of july party i went to, oh, like 6 years ago. in addition to drinking daiquries while lounging on a trampoline, this party featured two of the most adorable kids ever - with two of the best names ever. at least, i remembered them being awesome, but i couldn't remember what they were, which was an-NOY-ing. so - i went to the internets which contains a site all about irish baby names! the baby girl was saoirse ("sear-sha") and the little boy was either finnley or cian ("key-in"). i just remember liking it a lot, and it was hard to say when drunk so my money's on cian. and for the record, i still think those are some pretty kick ass names.

also, it turns out that alanna is gaelic, not italian. i know, it shocked me too.

and the last new thing i've learned this week (that's right, i'm refusing to learn anything new until sunday morning): when you're scheduled for surgery you have to have 3 pre-op appts. yes, 3. one with your regular doc, one with the specialist/surgeon, and one with a random doc at the hospital. i find this rather unnerving. how many people does it take to make sure i won't die when i'm placed in a gas-induced coma?! on the plus side, i've already had an MRI for the first time (very cozy, i would have fallen asleep if it wasn't so loud) and i'll get to have an EKG! so, ya know, that's something to look forward to.

and in the interest of gearing up for st. patty's day - i'm going to wear green every day next week. i'm thinking i'll limit it to only grass and kelly green to make it a bit more of an effort.

oh no he dinnit!

do not even tell me that seyler just cut off all of peter petrelli's adorable comic book hair.

i. will. be. so. mad.

allow me...

... to sum up the pros and cons of red bull in 4 words: "it keeps you awake."

that's a good thing when you're at work. it's a bad thing when you got home at 1 AM and are still trying to fall asleep at 5 AM.

but at any rate, the party was a good time. everyone had fun (as far as i know). some people loved the catfish, some people hated the catfish, but all in all, i'm happy with it.

anyone else?

ya know when you go to a new doctor and they have you fill out a questionnaire? for the question "do you consume alcohol regularly?" does anyone else have a strict policy of deny, deny, deny?

at any rate, it's possible that a cure for my constant sinus and ear infections has finally been found. it's a septoplasty, and i don't think i'll be opting to have a free rhinoplasty thrown in. i'm pretty happy with the outside of my nose, and i'll like the inside once it starts working.

all in all, i'm pretty excited about this. i'll admit to being somewhat nervous after i found out that this isn't an "easy peasy" surgery since you're automatically prescribed vicodin, which, in my opinion is a little hardcore. why not just give me some oxycotin and call it a day? but, if two weeks of pain/minor drug dependency is what it takes to become a healthy nose breather instead of a sickly mouth breather - i'm all for it. just so long as it can wait til after st. paddy's day.

3...2...1...

9 days until my last presentation
18 days until the big event
22 days until my last midterm
32 days til my second favorite holiday
75 days til maddie's legal
76 days til i beat up greg
78 days til my last final
88 days until i graduate (yikes!)
93 days til freedom
95 days til the cookout in hamburg (i think my parents agreed)
97 (or so) days til i leave for europe
107 days til my lease is up - i'll take care of that before i leave the states

i like to have things to look forward to. :)