super freak

spotted on the L:

girl wearing a green hoodie, clutching a coach tote trimmed in green, propping her legs up on a polka-dot green suitcase while listening to a green iPod.



...at least my shoes were orange.

so...

say you're home sick. your fever finally broke but you're still slightly delirious and have a credit card with a high enough limit to buy a car and you don't have to pay interest for 6 months, and by making these purchases you earn free flights on southwest, which you love, cause it doesn't matter where you sit - the germs will always find you. what would you buy? me? oh, it's a fairly boring list. but since you asked...

• a 60" LCD HD TV. i got to watch TV on a TV this weekend, and i gots to say, it was mighty nice.
• a DVD player. so i can watch buffy kick some majorly large ass.
  
• wireless surround sound. wires are a pain to deal with.
  
• a wii. and the fit part too. apparently all of the available ones are in canada, and they're $100 cheaper there too.
• more shoes.

i don't really know why i'd buy more shoes. after i buy all that other stuff it's not like i'll ever leave my apartment. i guess people could see my shoes when they come over, but i'm all about being barefoot in my diggs.

if you're wondering why i didn't add "laptop" to my list of techno-fun, it's cause i just scored one from work. it's not the best lappy ever, but it'll get the job done. yippee!

and now, if you'll excuse me, i need to go peruse consumer reports and see who will give me the most HD-WOW! for my numerous bucks.

SWF

lots of people recently graduated. i don't know most of them, but congrats anyway! and for those of you who graduated and invited me to your party, double congrats!! sorry i moved away and can't attend most of them. i have no doubt they'll still be a blast.

which reminds me, i went to one yesterday. someone's now a law grad! and i mentioned to someone who was a law grad a few years back that i thought about going to law school but then realized it meant that i would have to go to law school. and while i was shuddering from the idea of having to spend more time skipping clases, i also realized that while imitation is the highest form of flattery, too much is just creepy.

and so, i present to you, all the ways in which i am apparently trying to become a garvey when i grow up (in no particular order).

- hurray for saturday morning cartoons!
- comics are awesome too!
- play volleyball in iroquois high school's gym
- misspell iraquois (i'm assuming)
- join LT
- hang out in B1
- ohmygod, i'm so drunk
- repeat
- art with fr. tunney
- briefly visit albany
- live with johnny
- graduate from canisius
- go to bidness school
- oh 44, you're awesome
- woo hoo, i have an MBA!
- move to chicago
- eat so much pizza
- take the L in the wrong direction (that's just me? damn)
- blog for the masses

all that's left is to marry a battaglia and have cute babies. best to stop before this just gets crazy.

i know you don't live here...

but click the button and vote for me anyway!

fo' shizzle!

i love tiffany's. always have. it's so sleek and classy and pretty. but i can't afford it. sure, i could buy one or two things, but that's what i said about the graphic novels. you understand my fear. so, a good friend and i decided we would open Tiphz. All the designs you love - at affordable prices! heavy duty tin foil will cover only the sturdiest plastic. and for that extra glimmer, bits of broken bottles. i think we'll make it big.

i am so excited to be coming home in one week, one day and 2 hours! we can talk about how awesome buffy is, and our new jobs and make fun of each other. it'll be so great. :)

i went to a new doc last week, just to get set up in my non-HMO world (i know, i'm living the sweet life now) and she asked if i was planning on having any babies anytime soon. i said, no, not likely, at which point she said, "you're 28! you better get started if you want them!" then she left the room. i stole the magazine i was reading. and yes, it did make me feel better.

i'm sorry for the lameness of this post. i am so sleepy. but soon you'll have all my lameness in person, so, don't be sad.

!!!

buffy has a sister?! a sister who grows up to star in "eurotrip"?

i can dig it.

happy anniversary!

just in case there was any confusion, i am actually quite happy. oh sure, i get a little frowny cause i miss all you fantastic people, but i still love chicago and am so glad i moved here! moved here 3 months ago today, in fact! i am celebrating by not doing a dang thing. :) well, that's not entirely true. i'm going to plan on putting my laundry away but probably not. even though i should since tomorrow i'm going to some special showing of this famous underwater photographers' famous photos/films. i hope yo la tengo shows up.

so, who lost bets now that i hit 3 months? :)

on a completely unrelated note that will only be of interest to a few of you - all natural pine litter is really the way to go. it doesn't get tracked all over the place, and if you leave it near a nightlight it'll get hot and smell like campfire. oh, and it's cheap. seriously, it's good stuff.

still can't remember what i was going to write about the other day

i always get a little melancholy after my guests leave; and by always i mean both times. i enjoy my solitary time, but i don't like it. it's not normal for humans to be alone, we're meant to be surrounded by others, so while i enjoy quiet nights with harlee and the fishies, i don't like them cause i know too much of it will end poorly.

i'm reading this book* that after 20 pages makes me want to amazon (i just made it a verb) everything the author has ever written and then, on page 29, my heart leaped into my throat and stayed there for a good long time. i suddenly realized that i don't want to be "one of those people who [are] never fully present in their own lives." and that's exactly what i was afraid of becoming without knowing it. granted, i was there, but not entirely. i sorta just let things happen to me and never really put much effort into change. always reactionary, never actionary (i'm making up all kinds of new words today!) and i knew if i kept on that path, it would lead to a very unenjoyable realization one day, perhaps when it was too late to do anything about it. back in the day, as i sleepwalked my way to old main, this kid used to shout "wake up!" to me at least once a week. i think i'm finally picking up what he was laying down.

but taking life by the reins hasn't been all fun and games either. i used to have dreams where i failed business school maybe once every two weeks. then i had dreams i didn't move twice a week. now i'm having dreams that i'll never find a job five nights a week. the strange thing is, i have these dreams after i've already graduated, moved and started to like my job. i wake up shaking, only to realize i did succeed, so why do my dreams keep telling me i've failed? i know i tend to beat myself up; i search for approval and acceptance in others cause i rarely find it in myself, and there's no reason. i don't really know what this means other than to say, i gots mad issues. when i'm not blogging or watching network prime time a day after everyone else, i generally tend to analyze the past and try to determine the future. i don't really live in the present. which is pretty lame on my part, but not so lame that i'm going to use that lame, "now is a gift, that's why they call it a present" quote. even though i just did. dang it.

so, yeah, that's where my head's out, for now, i guess. but i'm working on that. right after i do some cleaning. because my living quarters need to be clean now, as opposed to in the far, distant and uncertain but that's totally fine, future.

* i tend to read a lot know that i have a library across the street from me and i don't have a TV and there's only so much network stuff i can watch. and this book reminds me of the movie "closer" which i really would have like to see as a play since that's what it originally was. but, anyway, siri hustvedt wrote "what i loved" and i'm really strongly in like with it.

...

i just completely lost my train of thought. we'll try this again tomorrow.

Up-te-datey

people have been asking how i like my job. i have edited this post to make it safe for the family to read, but if the situation doesn't improve soon, blogger is going to have to place a parental warning on here. and i'll have to remove walmart from my list of potential sponsors. because they don't like the words that mean mean things. not because i would ask them to support me. although i do like the bouncy smiley face that saves you money.

1. i am so bored i pray that we have an earthquake so i can go home. apparently, this is a viable option.
   
2. i was hired to convert their data into a useful format, but i'm begining to think this data doesn't exist...
   
3. they have the computers locked down so tight that i can't check my email or blog or even pretend i care and update my facebook profile!
4. the office hottie is, well, a hottie, but he's also a shyie. stop laughing at my jokes and make out with me in my office. it's not like i'm doing anything else in there.

so, while i am really glad to be gainfully employed and to again have health insurance in 6 days, 1 hour and 25 minutes, i'm really regretting turning down that interview for the assistant commissioner for employment in the department of human resources for the city of chicago (how would that ever fit on a business card?) because i "just got hired" and "didn't know how i would take time off for an interview." so i reapplied. i'm pretty sure i take time off by saying, "can i leave at 3 PM next tuesday?" and then i go tell the acting and deputy commissioners how awesome i am and then they pay me $20k more. seriously. i turned down the chance to make $20k more because of some misguided loyalty to a place that's not even smart enough to give me work! they asked me to make practice spreadsheets to make sure i really knew how to use excel! aaaah!

otherwise, chicago is awesome! i'm going canoing on sunday and "forgetting sarah marshall" is hysterical and chipotle is really yummy (not mighty taco yummy - it's a different kind of thing) and akira had a shoe sale and ann taylor loft is having a sale and i've already spent my first paycheck, which is fine, except that i haven't gotten it yet.

i like it here. but i miss buffalo and the peoples in it that i used to hang out with, so i'll come visit next month. this is a good plan. it's good to have a plan.

counter-point

i disagree. which is strange, cause we're not even discussing the environment or whether or not guiness tastes like crap this time.

i definitely do not think that we should go around using racial slurs, but i don't think silence is the answer either. in fact, i think it's part of the problem. i think we should all be free to talk about our differences, and why they're good AND what's good in other cultures/races/neighborhoods too. and free to ask others what they're all about! one of my former coworkers was a jehovah's witness, and i had no idea what that meant other than they were the people my mom loved to screw with when they came to the house, but this coworker was willing to tell me about it. do i want to incorpoate those beliefs into my life? hells no - i love my birthday. but now i know and it's no longer this strange thing i know nothing about. now i know the facts instead of the stereotypes and what other people think about them. see the difference? when a kid asks an adult what's different about the person who's black, white, purple or polka-dot walking down the street the adult should not be afraid to tell them. if they don't give them a truthful, factful answer, then the kid is going to get their "facts" from somewhere else. and they're going to keep looking for answers until they find them. telling someone that something is forbidden (whether it's a topic of conversation, way of thinking, dressing, acting, etc.) is only going to make them want to do it more. abolish the drinking age and after the novelty wears off, i'm sure even some of the newer new englanders will go dry.

stereotypes will never be completely eliminated. they're needed to help organize the bombardment of information our brains are constantly receiving - you use them when you see a mangy dog and a purring cat - and sometimes you're wrong. but if we didn't have an initial slot to put info we'd never be able to react to anything - not to the cutie winking at us or the crazy waving a knife. i think a good place for the human race to start would be to remember that stereotypes are guideline, not hard and fast rules. not every latino is gonna try to cop a feel, but it doesn't hurt to keep an eye out at first. not to mention the fact that sometimes stereotypes funny. and watch this one too. i can't wait to see it live next month!

any who...

so, how do we change the way americans react to the info they just processes? fuck if i know. i guess i could have some kids and teach them that while us froggies make the best food, the irish have the best holiday and the canadians are the nicest, and so on and so on. but first i'd have to find a baby daddy and we all know that all guys suck.

better than an easter seal

i am very sleepy. i've nailed the getting up at 5:30 am part, now i just need to figure out how to stay up past 10:00 pm.

my bff sent me this very funny pic today. i had to share. i hope to share my pics soon. i like sharing.

boombastic

i don't even know what "boombastic" means, it just happened to be a song that popped up on my iPod. now its in my head for forever.

the paralyzed veterans of america finally found me! hurray for patriotic return address labels! double hurray for not having to hand write the return address anymore!!

my first day of work was today. it went pretty darn well. everyone was really nice and i don't remember any of their names. i learned stuff and it would seem that i'm still qualified for the job. they have an awesome cafeteria too! plus, i get to work with an alex again, only this time, it's a girl. craziness. and i work with a recruiter who gave her little girl a boys name. some things never change. hopefully, this recruiter won't turn out to be an evil skank jerk-face like the last one. i have to say, it was incredibly weird to go to work today. after being on unpaid-vacation-leave in chicago for 2 months and 11 days, it sorta just now hit me that i live here. and it's pretty cool.

it's 72 outside right now. it's totally fantastic. especially since it was in the 40s for all but one of the days my sister was in town. she was a trooper though - us buffalo gals don't let a little snow keep us from having a good time. madison had sushi for the first, second and third time of her life (she may love it more than me). we also had ethiopian, which led to the following inappropriate conversations, "you should have brought me here when i was little - you're supposed to eat with your hands!" and "do ethiopians eat this stuff every day?" "not likely from the pictures i've seen." this is why you shouldn't take us anywhere nice.

in addition to the food firsts, we both decided it was time we stopped being all talk and no action. and nothing commemorates a fantastic week together like some ink.

aren't those the cutest lil' bugs you ever did see? i'm the foot on the left connected to the deformed ankle. my sister's the bleeder on the right. it was a lot of fun, especially since everyone in the tattoo parlor thought we were the cutest things ever ("you're sisters and you're getting your first tatts together?! and they're bugs! how cute are you?!") extremely, apparently. i just wonder what we'll do the next time she visits...

i will post pictures this weekend, or i'll do my very bestest too. we really did have so much fun and it was nice to just hang out with her. talk girl stuff and watch movies and tease each other and stuff like that. the train and bus are a lot lonelier now that she's headed home.

so i don't end this on a mushy down note, let me tell you about how i made danielle a real friend! i texted her to see if she went to the party on saturday that i was supposed to go to but i couldn't cause maddie was in town and we went to milwaukee, and instead of texting me back, she called me. that's a big step, people. and then we were talking about what events we'll see each other at next and i said, "why don't we hang out saturday night?" and she said yes! we're hanging out and there's no pretense of it being a club-event involved. so, let me take a moment to thank a friend who gave me some great advice a couple months ago ("just get out there"). took me a while to follow through, but i'm glad i did. now if only he would blog...

this just in!

my cool aunt patti (i refuse to have uncool aunts) now reads my blog. so keep it clean when you comment on my blog - but not too clean, she is the chick who took me to see lewis black, after all.

i got a strange email today - assumed it was spam and almost never opened it. but i'm glad i did! one of my photos was short-listed for the second edition of schmap's east coast guide. not the pic i would have picked (sorry, it was too easy) but then again, i'm not an editor. hope this schmap thing is cool. otherwise i'll feel really lame for being "published" on the web. it's such a fad.

i noticed a few weeks ago that there's something different about me. it wasn't the permanent (albeit slight) limp i now walk with (i'll get that looked at soon). it was more the way i interacted with people. i used to get scared of big crowds of strangers. yes, i know you don't really believe me, but it's the truth and nothing but. now, i love the idea of big crowds of strangers! all those new people to meet and weed through to find the coolest ones. it's fun! i should've tried this not being shy thing years ago. damn. i could've been haning out wtih really cool people all this time.

so, i'm not going to NYC for NY wizard world. you're left to your own devices to figure out why. you may also hypothesize, if you so choose, as to why this is probably a good thing. the real answers are nowhere nearly as exciting as anything you're bound to come up with. in fact, let me know if you come up with anything really juicy. maybe i'll make it my real cover story!

MCA

i went to first friday at the museum of contemporary art this past friday. i hated it. maybe if i was 19 and/or looking to get laid i would have liked it, but i'm really not a fan of being surrounded by a bunch of poseurs, long lines for bad drinks, DJs whose biggest fan is herself and modern crap art. their slogan is "fear no art." i don't fear it, i'm just afraid i'm gonna wretch all over it. regardless, this event is incredibly popular all twelve times a year and does a lot to raise awareness for the arts community, blah blah blah, so if you want to go when you come visit that's cool, i'll put you on the bus and take the ride to the loop, but i'll be around the corner drooling over the michael kors, chanel and ann taylor. when you're done wretching come find me.

the day started pretty great though. i gots my mane colored auburn. it's like i finally recognize myself in the mirror again! ... although, i'm not normally sideways.



the night ended really great too! after i ditched the most crappiest artsy party i've ever been to, i went and met up with this girl i knew from my club at innjoy, which i did innjoy! and i kissed a mightily cute asian. and then i told him to go away cause he was interfering with me getting my drink on. for some reason, he thought i was playing hard to get, but really, my drink was empty.

saturday i went out with some other people. did i mention i also went out on thursday? yeah, i could barely walk today. 3 days in a row of dancing, drinking too much, staying up late, being hungover, sleeping all day and repeat have done me in. i managed to do laundry and mop the floor today and i don't know how. i have most certainly aged. vacuuming will have to wait for maddie's convenient arrival.

totally unrelated - my cool aunt jeanie just landed an awesome job! i love when things work out - her layoff made her go look for jobs and now she has a better one than she's ever had before. couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. :)

also, here's a pic of my super fat cat trying to fit into a super small box. you can also see all of the boxes filled with books (most with pictures) that desperately need to be put on bookshelves that i should buy at some point.



now she's trying to fit into my purse. yeah, maybe if it was alanna's purse, but you're gonna need quite the kibble cut back before you see the inside of one of mine.

you spin me round

i knew tonight was going to be a good night because the train showed up just as i reached the platform, always a good sign. and then on the bus the lady next to me smelled like play-doh, a little odd, to be sure, but i love play-doh. and then, when i got to the party, there were chicken wings and they were really, really good. so damn good.

and there was a stripper pole. i have always been intrigued by the stripper pole. how does one spin around without getting dizzy? how do you stop your hands from slipping? i gathered around to watch as some guys were dancing (which was hi-lar-ee-us) and then some chick started shouting get up there red shirt. uh-oh, i was the only one wearing a red shirt. and she sounded ser-ee-us. did you know the actual pole spins? like a lot? news to me. other news to me - apparently i have some moves. and i have to tell you, it was damn fun. i like spinning in circles. and i am positive that while this is not news to you, i still feel it is important to mention that i like being the center of attention.

next time, i need to wear stilettos (the shoes, not the knives) and a fedora. ya know, in addition to, not instead of, the rest of my clothes. i already have a job, thank you.

and that's no joke

guess what?! i have a job! isn't that the best news you've heard all day that has absolutely no impact on your own life? and it couldn't have happened at a better time. my sister is coming to visit me soon and as much as i say "the plane tickets are your birthday present and i'm not buying you anything else" we all know i'll buy her any and everything she glances at. and somehow she still understands the importance of working to purchase her own stuff. maybe it's cause i make her sing the "you're the best sister ev-UHR" song when i buy her stuff.

also, this job will provide me with health insurance on 5/1, which is important as i plan on jumping out of a plane (with a parachute, natch) on 5/4. just don't tell my mom- i promised her i wouldn't.

i also just became a member of the shedd aquarium and field museum. now i can go as much as i want all year long and take a guest for free each time. expect to be taken here when you come visit. and if you visit in pairs you can shadow box to determine who gets the free ticket. or, if you're boring, you can just split the price.

all in all, things are going pretty well over here. i still miss all of you, but it's no longer that "soul-crushing" kind of missing. it's more of a "i better go do fun stuff so i have fun stuff to show my friends when they come visit" kind of missing. although, i do occassionally find myself a victim of the "le sigh" on thursdays if there's nothing going on here.

i guess that's it. there's a party tonight i think i'll go to and until then i'm going to spend the rest of the day trying to convince myself that i really should put my laundry away and mop the floors. not stuff i like doing, but now as i don't have the "but i should be looking for a job" excuse, i really should do it. no one likes visiting a chick with messy floors.

this shit is dope

is it just me, or is "weeds" the best show ever? i get home at 6 PM and decide to check out the pilot while i eat some sushi and the next thing i know, it's damn near tomorrow. wacky.

and on to season two...

blast from the past

here's my closest post to one year ago. looks like i had a really great time on st. patty's eve. apparently, i also decided to wear green for a week straight and planned on doing it for 17 days this year. whoops.

BufBloPoFo has been a ton of fun. i love bloggng. blog, blog, bloggity, bloggy blog. i think i'm going to try and see how long i can keep daily posts up for. considering my abyssmal failure over here, i strongly urge you to not keep your hopes up.

file this under "why dolphins are super."

and file this under "bad idea": i saw a woman wearing really tight white pants. then i noticed they were, tight, white and not entirely opaque. i thought they were stained. instead, i was looking at her ass-tat. ass-tat is now my new favorite swear word.

lastly, please file this under "great news": my interview went so well they're bringing me back for seconds. :)

ode to my abode

i am in love with my apartment. i just rearranged some stuff and i don't know if i tapped some previously unused feng shui, but i just feel happier and can't stop looking at my handiwork. speaking of handiwork, i haven't yet tried the drapery rod suggestion that was kindly left for me. but the fact that a stranger was willing to help another stranger, namely me, is a pretty cool and very nice thing that deserves mentioning.

ya know, maybe the reason i'm so darn happy today is because it was 60 degrees out and i didn't wear a jacket outside. what up now, b-lo?

congrats to bob for guess/deducing correctly - the iPod's true owner is indeed johnny. although, with all of the reel big fish on there, it could just as easily have been bob's. and the pokemon songs might have made you think it was my sister's. when she was 8.

the shows i'm missing most are "life" and "pushing daisies." they're really good, in ways i can't describe. and i'm afraid to find out if "scrubs" is really done or not. cause then i would miss it too. oh, and i need to see more of pam and jim being cute together.

so, i have this interview tomorrow (everyone, please cross your fingers and think nice thoughts at 11:30 AM CST) for a job i really want, but i'm too excited about seeing a river get dyed green on saturday to properly prepare for my interview. this should've gone on the list yesterday, but i love st. patty's day a whole lot. it's my favorite holiday. there's no stress of buying presents, all i have to do is wear my favorite color and drink beer. a lot of beer. a lot of green beer. and shots. i like shots. so yeah, i can't begin to tell you how excited i am to celebrate my favorite holiday in my new city, and then celebrate the completion of BufBloPoFo, which is sure to become my second favorite holiday. as long as i can still wear green. and drink beer.