The New England Society for Tea Fetishism

I'm going to Maine today! Hooray!

I need HBO to start running Moulin Rouge all the time again. Or maybe I just need to buy the dvd. Then I can stop it at the end before Nicole Kidman dies, and it'll be a very happy movie indeed.
My mom borrowed Mystic River from someone at work so we watched that on Wednesday night. It was okay. Like I've been told, it's a lot of great performances in a pretty average movie. And it should have ended about five minutes before it did. But Mr. Eastwood had to go on and wrap up a pointless side-plot involving a character and his estranged wife, and then Laura Linney, out of nowhere, had to go all Lady Macbeth on Sean Penn's character. The best part? Laurence Fishburne's character was named Whitey Powers. And no one ever said anything about it.
Hunger pains! I'm going out to breakfast with Tracy in about 45 minutes. My stomach is ready to eat itself. Then it's off to get me a permit, and then who knows? The world is our mollusk.

Cross your fingers and toes ladies and gentlemen. Hell, cross your eyes while you're at it. My mom might be able to get me a temp job at Verizon for July and August. It's completely brainless work, scanning and filing from 7-3:30 five days a week, but like I told my mom, that's pretty much what I did at school all year. And the pay will be fairly low, but it has to be more than I'm making right now. I probably won't get it, but I'm hoping. It could happen.

Good news--I got my Sunday blend in the mail. Whooo-Hooo!! And it's in two resealable 1/4 pound bags. And there's a little sample of some Kenyan tea as well. Spiffy. The kettle is heating up.
Bad News--As of September 1, 2005, my college is closed. Apparently, from a fiscal point of view, it's just not worth it to keep Southampton open with all the construction and rebuilding that it needs. Just the undergrad programs are closing, though. My ass is safe, just in case I don't finish my degree this year. I'm a terrible person--I had a good laugh after reading the letter. And it's not like the kids will have nowhere to go. Southampton College is basically being transfered to the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. There's also a Brooklyn campus. It's not a good or a happy thing at all, and I can only imagine what a downer the next two semesters are going to be for the entire campus, but after all that drama at Hood, I'm just super glad that this doesn't involve me.

Sorry Amy, I had two late nights in a row and I just got up about half an hour ago. Sounds good. I will need directions to Nash Vegas, but I think that my mom can handle it.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is about an autistic boy named Christopher who discovers Mrs. Shears dog, Wellington, dead on her front lawn. Even though his father tells him to keep his nose out of other people's business he investigates the death because he likes puzzles and he likes dogs, and because of what he finds the story stops being about Wellington and starts being about him. It's told from his perspective, so the writing is simple, and I blew through the 200 pages in a day. It's very funny and very heartbreaking. And set in England, which makes it even better, somehow. Oh, the exotic allure of A levels and orange squash.

You all must read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. All of you. There will be a test.

I won! I won! I won! What did I win, you ask? On chud.com there was a contest to win the second season of The Dead Zone. I had to give a funny caption for a screen grab, explain which other Stephen King story might make a good tv series, and do a little essay about what the world would be like if 9/11 had been averted. And voila! In a week or two I'll be knee deep in Anthony Michael Hall. Hooo! I'm all a-flutter.

Mum now has an appointment with Dr. August half an hour after me. They're going to talk about me, I know it.
As I said, I went to special teas and ordered more Sunday blend. Only, I went a little crazy and got a half pound instead of a fourth pound. 8 ounces--it doesn't sound like much, but this is whole tea, so we're talking 8 ounces of dried out leaves that barely weigh anything to begin with. But still, no problem. I know I'll use it all. I'm addicted, remember? The down side is that now I have to order my tea off the internet. Twinings just doesn't cut it anymore. And Tetley? Please.
Canada, land of mystery, oh how I long to unravel the enigma that is Canadian bacon. How long a drive is it? Hey, at the border we could finally use our passports for something useful. I'll even venture into French Canadia as long as I don't have to speak French.

I'm going to see Amy and Annie. Squeee!! I can't wait.
I got up at 8:15 today, ate some oatmeal, made myself the last cup of the Sunday blend, and sat down at the computer for an hour and a half to write. I think I like that routine. It's like what Andrea used to say about having printmaking so early in the morning--it's good to do creative things when you're still close to the dream state. Oh, and after I finish this post, I'm going to specialteas.com to order six ounces of the Sunday blend. That last sip made me so sad. I am officially addicted.
Other good things done today:
I made an appointment to see my gynecologist for the first time in about three years. Of course, it's good for my body, and Dr. August is a great lady, but ye gods I hate going there. I will be looking toward August 25th with an ever growing sense of dread.
I've also started looking up primary care physicians, or PCPs (hehe), who take HMO Blue, because there is no way my pediatrician is taking me back now, and I really should have a physical before I go back to school.

Yesterday Tracy and I continued our exercize program which actually seems to be a thinly veiled attempt to kill ourselves. The plan was to walk from where we parked in Swampscott down to Red Rock and back. Even on the ocean it was quite hot and we were both wearing jeans--me because I haven't shaved in a while and Tracy just didn't feel like changing. We didn't make it to Red Rock. On the way back to the car she pointed out that we're doing all the wrong things in an effort to get healthy. On Friday we gave our selves hypothermia at Devereaux Beach and yesterday we got heat stroke. The next logical step would be extreme altitude followed by a lengthy deep-sea dive. Next, power yoga in a cold room preceeded by a huge meal and no stretching. I think we'll do well.

The water at the beach was that very special temperature that makes your instep ache about two seconds after your feet hit the water. The air was probably about 70 degrees. We were a little chilly just standing on the sand. Still, we did a little bit more than dunk and run. After twenty or thirty minutes of sunbathing we took a walk right along the water and picked up interesting rocks that are still wrapped in my towel which is sitting in the back of Tracy's Escape. Much like my prom dress, I have a feeling that it will be in her possession for quite some time (of course, in the case of my prom dress, we're talking four years, although the only thing keeping me from getting it is the presence of mind to say "Hey, can I get my prom dress out of your closet?")
So I waded in up to my knees, and Tracy followed. Soon we were almost up to our hips. Then I yelled "1-2-3!" and dunked up to my neck. In a few minutes we were both body surfing.
Now, this does not mean that the water wasn't cold. At one point I think I lost feeling in my triceps. But it was just too fun. And part of the novelty of it all was that out of the thirty or so people on the beach, we were the only ones in the water. Seriously, it was us and a few clumps of seaweed rolling in the surf, and that was it. After about half an hour we picked our way back to our towels through the rocks near the high-tide line and wrapped ourselves up. Tracy's nose was bright red, as was the razor-rash all over my left leg (attractive!) and we were both sniffling. A lady standing nearby said something along the lines of "You two are brave."
Tracy wants to do it again soon, but I'm not so sure. It was incredibly fun, but I don't know if I can go in that water again now that I know exactly how cold it is.

It's a beach day. Yay! The ocean's probably frickin' freezing, but Tracy and I are going to take a dip anyway. A very short dip--submerge then run screaming onto the sand. Perhaps I will even get a little sun on my legs, although my legs haven't tanned since 1997. After the beach, who knows? We might rent The Stand on video and watch the whole thing in one sitting (bad idea, actually, since it's around 8 hours long)or go out to dinner with her friend Amy, but she never called Tracy back to confirm. Whatever happens, it will be another great day with the illustrious Ms. Nash.

It's that time of year again, ladies and gents. The toilet bowl is sweating, the kitchen is getting ubearably hot in the afternoon, and the ants are feeling up my breasts. Seriously. I was brushing my teeth and I looked in the mirror to see an ant crawling up my chest. Also, our central air is broken. Good thing it's supposed to be 66 tomorrow. Brian and I went to the movies today just so we could be in air-conditioning. After many, many years of living near Pheonix, Brian is through with the heat. Ohh, and I got to try out my new dykey shorts from Old Navy. They're so cute!
We saw Harry Potter! It was very good--quite different from the last two, but in all the right ways. My face hurts from smiling. Harry Potter makes me happy.
Angel-a-thon 2004 is now complete, and I already have my eye on season three. I've come into some extra money. We'll see what happens.
Tracy and I decided to start walking in the evenings. We are both noticing some things that we are not happy about, like stomach pooches and love handles in the embryonic stage. Speaking of embryonic, I tried on a pair of pants that I used to wear all the time in high school and I was able to button them. I think they cut off circulation to my reproductive organs, but I got them on, none the less. Then we thought about joining a gym. $19 down and $19 a month sounded great until we noticed the $133 membership fee in the fine print. Laps around the elementary school will do. Perhaps, after a few weeks, we might even jog. I just feel like such a lump of dough, you know? I need to get my heart beating. I miss the gym at Hood. It was so close and there weren't ten athletic teams of boys working out in there all the time.

Five days with no blogging has left me a little blog happy. Last night my dad took me to A.C. Moore to do some birthday shopping. I wanted to pick up some printmaking supplies. You know, a roller, ink, a sheet of plexi-glass, some nice paper. Maybe a block of easy-cut or two. But A.C. Moore is in the mall, and the mall closes at 6 on Sundays, so there we were at 7:30 and shit out of luck. Printing will have to wait. So we went to the Ground Round instead and I had my first drink with my father since, well, ever. He got a beer and French onion soup, and I got an orange martini. Quite tasty. The martini, I mean. When I picked it out he said, "A martini? Those are kinda strong. Are you sure that's what you want?" I think he had a sort of My-Baby-Girl-is Ordering-a-Martini Moment. Anyway, he's working, which is good, and in the fall he wants to get a job at Salem State (where Renee works) as a janitor or a maintenace man. Steady jobs are good, especially ones with benefits.
I got my mom a variety pack of loose teas from Specialteas.com. One of them is called Sunday Blend. I have no idea what's in it, but it smells like pipe tobacco, sorta vanilla, a little smoky, really smooth. It's one of those things that you don't know if you like it but it's so odd that you keep drinking it anyway. And now I'm addicted. The problem is--Sunday Blend! What the hell is that? If I want to get more I don't know what to look for in a store. I'll have to order it online again. I think I'm going to search the website and see if they give any clues as to what's in it. I've really turned into a tea addict since I got home. You know what else is good? Celestial Seasonings chai. Three spoonfuls in a cup of milk and zap it in the microwave for two minutes. It's heaven.

re: Sunday Blend--
A historic blend dating back to the turn of the Century when European tea blenders began to enhance fine breakfast teas with pieces of vanilla. Even today, this delicious blend of full-leaf, tippy Assams and pieces of finest Madagascar Bourbon vanilla is very popular. Not just for Sunday mornings! Great with milk -- or better yet, cream and some sugar.
Yeah. I'll have to order it off the computer again.

Thursday I started writing again, the first time since I left school. It was like pulling teeth, but I think I have my flow back. I just had to sit at the kitchen table and repeat "Shitty first drafts" about thirty times to get myself going. Sometimes it's hard to just put whatever you have down on the page and worry about the quality later. I'm thinking of fooling around with a little magical realism, but then I think I might have to change from first person to third person narrative. When crazy things are happening I think it's easier to be on the outside looking in, instead of getting things first hand. After about 90 minutes, or one Radiohead cd and the disc one of Living in Clip, there was such a torrential amount of rain slamming into my house I had to stop and make sure the roof wasn't going to cave in. Also, I left my bedroom window open and my pillow got drenched.
Tomorrow I embark on my career as a spokes model. Well, Tracy has a project due for her summer class, so she's going to take pictures of me eating Wheat Thins. Good thing I like Wheat Thins. I think we should go for a comfy-cozy look. I could be curled up on the couch reading a book, eating the crackers, with the box on a coffee table in the foreground. But neither of us have coffee tables at our houses. Hmmm . . .
On Saturday I get to be a proctor for a test at Salem State College. Tracy's mom volunteered me without my knowledge. I'm hoping that Tracy can come too. We can't talk, but we can exchange amusing notes and try not to crack up. Speaking of Tracy, she took me to the Weathervane in Kittery for lunch for my birthday. I had so much fun feasting on our friends from the sea, and on the way home we looked at a real estate brochure. There are so many amazing houses for comparatively little money. Of course, they perpetrate highway robbery with the property taxes in NH. Right Amy?
In other news--where's Russell? We need the male perspective on the boards!

Some keywords that have brought people to my blog:
Bajingo (3 times)
Sharon Osborne show with James Marsters
Nasty Groupies
Runway Denver International Airport Swastika
And my absolute favorite:
Wil Donato

I had a good weekend with the family, so of course I had no interest in the internet. On Saturday I went shopping with my mom. We hit the Best Buy at the Square One mall to replace my Angel dvds (I watched five episodes today) then on to Costo where the cashier flirted with me, and finally we hit the post office where my mom saw a guy parked out front watch my ass (and possibly whistle) as I crossed the street. He was old and creepy, so I flipped him off. Having guys check me out when I'm with my mom is wrong. Still, it was a good weekend. We started my mom's garden, rented two movies, Brian installed a firewall on my laptop, and I finally cleaned out my closet and put all my crap from school away. I can actually see my carpet now. I might even vacuum tomorrow. It was just nice to hang around with people. School made me feel very people deprived.
Oh, and part of the gardening involved spreading cow manure over the freshly turned earth and then mixing it in. For the rest of the day I had a kind of G-rated Tourette's syndrome that caused me to say "Poop!" at the most random moments, really quickly and in a high pitched voice.
So I'm reading a book about the genocide in Rwanda ten years ago called "Shake Hands with the Devil," by the man who was the head of the UN military operation over there when everything fell apart. You know what? The UN sucks! Or at least it did during that particular operation. This poor man got less than half the soldiers he asked for and couldn't even provide housing and food and equipment for the ones that were sent. I've just gotten to the part where the shit hits the fan and he and his men are pretty much unable to help themselves or anyone else.
Oh, and in good news, I just read that a court (the Supreme Court, I think) ruled that Bush's bullshit partial-birth abortion ban is unconstitutional.