Monday, August 30, 2004
I forgot to mention that last night around 9 I got a call from Tracy asking if I wanted to come to Jeff's house and be the sixth in a girls-against-boys game of Cranium. I was doing nothing so I figured, what the hell, and I'll finally get to meet Jeff's little brother's girlfriend who I've been hearing so much about.
We won, which did not make those in the room of the male persuasion happy at all. These are boys who play video games all day. They are fiercely competetive and not about to let a bunch of girls beat them, so we played another round. They messed up the first question and we were going to give it to them anyway, but they refused, loudly. Too bad for them. When we won again they said that I was the reason the girls won, which is totally not true, because I knew the trivia parts but Helena and Tracy were the ones that got the word puzzles and clay modeling and pretty much everything else right. I can't do word scrambles under pressure. Yeah, I know what anthropomorphize means, but only because I read Terry Pratchett books. But, hey, if Jeff, Eric and David want to believe that I beat them all single-handedly, then that's fine with me.
We won, which did not make those in the room of the male persuasion happy at all. These are boys who play video games all day. They are fiercely competetive and not about to let a bunch of girls beat them, so we played another round. They messed up the first question and we were going to give it to them anyway, but they refused, loudly. Too bad for them. When we won again they said that I was the reason the girls won, which is totally not true, because I knew the trivia parts but Helena and Tracy were the ones that got the word puzzles and clay modeling and pretty much everything else right. I can't do word scrambles under pressure. Yeah, I know what anthropomorphize means, but only because I read Terry Pratchett books. But, hey, if Jeff, Eric and David want to believe that I beat them all single-handedly, then that's fine with me.
Long Time No Blog
Thursday I had my yearly check-up with the lovely Dr. August. When I checked in I found out that I hadn't been there since the summer of '01. I soon realized why. I have nothing bad to say about Dr. August. She's a very cute little Latina woman, quite personable with a great bedside manner, and I like her very much. But whenever she says, "Okay, you're going to feel a little pressure," it's more like horrible, stabbing pain. At least she's quick.
Friday I had my physical with my new primary care physician, Dr. Laura Beagley. Acutally, I thought her last name was Gotschall, which led to two rather confusing phone calls, but I got to her office just fine. She told me to monitor my tail for changes. And that was it. Maybe it'll just go away.
Yesterday was shop 'till you drop day. While searching for my new fall wardrobe (do they even make jeans anymore that aren't a) so low slung your ovaries are exposed or b) made of that stretch material?) I scoured the home furnishings departments of Macy's, Sears, J.C. Penney, and looked around Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma for mugs. My mom wants some nice tea mugs to go with her soon to be re-finished kitchen, so I thought I'd get a head start on my Christmas shopping. While clothes are getting smaller and tighter, all the mugs are freakin' huge! I don't think I saw anything smaller than twelve ounces. Of course, there were some nice tea cups, but the woman wants mugs, dammit, I have to get mugs! Anyway, I did find some nice tops in New York and Co. and Express, and even a pair of jeans that didn't make me look stumpy and lumpy, so all in all, it was a good day.
Friday I had my physical with my new primary care physician, Dr. Laura Beagley. Acutally, I thought her last name was Gotschall, which led to two rather confusing phone calls, but I got to her office just fine. She told me to monitor my tail for changes. And that was it. Maybe it'll just go away.
Yesterday was shop 'till you drop day. While searching for my new fall wardrobe (do they even make jeans anymore that aren't a) so low slung your ovaries are exposed or b) made of that stretch material?) I scoured the home furnishings departments of Macy's, Sears, J.C. Penney, and looked around Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma for mugs. My mom wants some nice tea mugs to go with her soon to be re-finished kitchen, so I thought I'd get a head start on my Christmas shopping. While clothes are getting smaller and tighter, all the mugs are freakin' huge! I don't think I saw anything smaller than twelve ounces. Of course, there were some nice tea cups, but the woman wants mugs, dammit, I have to get mugs! Anyway, I did find some nice tops in New York and Co. and Express, and even a pair of jeans that didn't make me look stumpy and lumpy, so all in all, it was a good day.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
You know what I hate? When people refer to the date September 11th as "nine-one-one." You know what I really hate? When people refer to the phone number that you call for emergency services as "nine-eleven." Seriously, who started that? No one ever said "Hey, you wanna watch Rescue Nine-Eleven?" I've heard it on tv twice in the past 24 hours.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
I went to the Willows with Tracy yesterday. We both got kiddie scoops at Hobbs and ate them on the pier while we watched an Asian lady fish for crabs. I got grasshoppa ice-cream and it melted all over me, but it was so full of minty-chocolate goodness I didn't care. Then we went down to the beach to hunt for hermit crabs. There were a couple of tide pools right at the water's edge on the verge of getting swallowed by the incoming tide and they were crawling with hermits. We picked a couple up and caught the attention of two little boys wading in the ocean a few yards away from us. One was around six or seven and the other was probably nine. The older one was very interested in the crabs and proceeded to abuse them mercilessly. Tracy and I, feeling guilty about inflicting this child on the tide pools, moved to a pool further down the beach, but he followed us.
Eventually we made our way to the tide pools in the boulders, except this time we brought sticks to get at the stuff in the middle where we can't reach. I plucked out interesting mussel shells and Tracy made an impressive pile of dismembered crab parts with her handy-dandy hook-ended stick. Why, yes, we are twelve-year-old boys, thanks for asking. When we were done, we cast our sticks into the ocean. I flung mine rather unceremoniously into the surf while Tracy hailed the ocean and then did this rather dignified javelin-toss. Then we hauled ass because the tide was coming in and the rock we were on was becoming an island.
Back at her house, we found the front door unlocked, the back gate and the shed door open, a fire going in the outdoor fireplace, and nobody home except the dog. It was like her family had suddenly been sucked up into the sky (It's the Rapture! Somebody call Tia!). Actually, her dad and Lisa went to Home Depot and bought a sapling white pine (they hate their neighbors, but instead of putting up a stockade fence, they're planting trees to block the view of their yard) and her mom and Kerri went to get their hair cut. There was no explanation as to why they felt the need to leave the fire going.
In other news, Tracy says I'm growing a tail. I hope it's prehensile.
Eventually we made our way to the tide pools in the boulders, except this time we brought sticks to get at the stuff in the middle where we can't reach. I plucked out interesting mussel shells and Tracy made an impressive pile of dismembered crab parts with her handy-dandy hook-ended stick. Why, yes, we are twelve-year-old boys, thanks for asking. When we were done, we cast our sticks into the ocean. I flung mine rather unceremoniously into the surf while Tracy hailed the ocean and then did this rather dignified javelin-toss. Then we hauled ass because the tide was coming in and the rock we were on was becoming an island.
Back at her house, we found the front door unlocked, the back gate and the shed door open, a fire going in the outdoor fireplace, and nobody home except the dog. It was like her family had suddenly been sucked up into the sky (It's the Rapture! Somebody call Tia!). Actually, her dad and Lisa went to Home Depot and bought a sapling white pine (they hate their neighbors, but instead of putting up a stockade fence, they're planting trees to block the view of their yard) and her mom and Kerri went to get their hair cut. There was no explanation as to why they felt the need to leave the fire going.
In other news, Tracy says I'm growing a tail. I hope it's prehensile.
Have you ever turned the water off in the shower, grabbed a towel, started drying off, and then realized that you still had like half a bottle of conditioner in your hair? Yeah, me neither.
Monday, August 23, 2004
I sat in the sun today and read for about half an hour. I'm hoping to get a teeny bit of color on my legs so I can wear my new skirts at school without blinding anyone. I know I'm not as pale as some people (Amy) but since I do have the ability to tan I thought I'd take advantage of it.
I have a feeling that there will be no gettting of the license this year. Try as I might, I can't get a test date before I have to leave for school, even though I call every day to see if anything's opened up. It figures that now that I actually want to take the test, I can't get an appointment. At this point, I don't really even care if I pass (although, if I did, WOOOO-HOOOO!!) I just want to take the damn thing and get it over with. If I fail, at least I'll know what to expect the next time.
Last Thursday night I went out to the bar at the Sylvan Street Grill with Tracy and her cousin Shelly, who is up from Florida with her family to visit the Nashes. She seemed like a really cool person and I liked her immediately. I think she's gone home already, which is kind of a shame because it would have been fun to go out again. We all had dessert and two drinks, and the total came to $49.95. Anti-Freezes are expensive, but sooo tasty. Hey Tracy, if you're reading this, I miss you! We need to get together this week.
To my dismay, the third season of the Dead Zone is now over. It's one of those shows I wasn't sure I really liked, but I stuck with it because I wanted it to be good--kind of like Smallville, although I gave up on that show after the first season. And then I won the second season dvd collection, watched the whole thing in couple of weeks, and was pretty amazed by how consistently great the show is. Even the stuff that should be annoying (doubling Logan for an airport in Bangor, the almost complete absence of the Maine accent, pretending that anything that happens in Maine is relevant to the rest of the world :) just makes me smile. But I don't know about this last season. Something was off. Not enough Bruce, maybe, who knows. I'll still keep watching, though.
I have a feeling that there will be no gettting of the license this year. Try as I might, I can't get a test date before I have to leave for school, even though I call every day to see if anything's opened up. It figures that now that I actually want to take the test, I can't get an appointment. At this point, I don't really even care if I pass (although, if I did, WOOOO-HOOOO!!) I just want to take the damn thing and get it over with. If I fail, at least I'll know what to expect the next time.
Last Thursday night I went out to the bar at the Sylvan Street Grill with Tracy and her cousin Shelly, who is up from Florida with her family to visit the Nashes. She seemed like a really cool person and I liked her immediately. I think she's gone home already, which is kind of a shame because it would have been fun to go out again. We all had dessert and two drinks, and the total came to $49.95. Anti-Freezes are expensive, but sooo tasty. Hey Tracy, if you're reading this, I miss you! We need to get together this week.
To my dismay, the third season of the Dead Zone is now over. It's one of those shows I wasn't sure I really liked, but I stuck with it because I wanted it to be good--kind of like Smallville, although I gave up on that show after the first season. And then I won the second season dvd collection, watched the whole thing in couple of weeks, and was pretty amazed by how consistently great the show is. Even the stuff that should be annoying (doubling Logan for an airport in Bangor, the almost complete absence of the Maine accent, pretending that anything that happens in Maine is relevant to the rest of the world :) just makes me smile. But I don't know about this last season. Something was off. Not enough Bruce, maybe, who knows. I'll still keep watching, though.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
First, I must apologize to Amy and her statcounter. If my ip shows up several times in a row over the course of about twenty seconds, it's because your comments aren't working for me today and I find that sometimes they start working if I leave your blog and then come right back. So far, no dice.
I forgot to tell you about my last trip to Costco with my mom. Last Saturday was no tax day in MA on sales up to $2,500, so we went school shopping. We didn't spend anywhere near $2,500 (nor did we intend to), but that's not the story.
We were waiting at the counter in the optical center for the clerk to get me two boxes of my contacts. Actually, mom was waiting--I was busy playing with a pair of transitions lenses in a light box. Did you know that you can get them in gray and brown? So I was doing that while my mom and the clerk were talking, totally unaware of anything else in the world, when I realized that the man was talking to me. The only thing I caught was "Sixteen?" I thought "Sixteen what?" So I said, "Excuse me?" And he said, "You're about sixteen, right?" I kind of half smiled and said, "Nooo, I'm twenty-three."
Then he started going on about how he should know better since he has a fourteen year old daughter and that he's terrible with ages and I'm just thinking, "Hell, at least he didn't think I was thirty-five," although if I were thirty-five I don't think my mother would still be buying me contacts.
Anyway, before you start thinking that this guy is weird for asking about my age, he wanted to know because I had to initial this new privacy form that basically says that Costco won't give out my eye-care information. I don't know if this is a statewide or nationwide thing, but it seems like the past three times I've been to the dentist I've had to sign something else related to this privacy deal, and I'm sure that when I go to the doctor next Friday, I'll have to do it again.
I forgot to tell you about my last trip to Costco with my mom. Last Saturday was no tax day in MA on sales up to $2,500, so we went school shopping. We didn't spend anywhere near $2,500 (nor did we intend to), but that's not the story.
We were waiting at the counter in the optical center for the clerk to get me two boxes of my contacts. Actually, mom was waiting--I was busy playing with a pair of transitions lenses in a light box. Did you know that you can get them in gray and brown? So I was doing that while my mom and the clerk were talking, totally unaware of anything else in the world, when I realized that the man was talking to me. The only thing I caught was "Sixteen?" I thought "Sixteen what?" So I said, "Excuse me?" And he said, "You're about sixteen, right?" I kind of half smiled and said, "Nooo, I'm twenty-three."
Then he started going on about how he should know better since he has a fourteen year old daughter and that he's terrible with ages and I'm just thinking, "Hell, at least he didn't think I was thirty-five," although if I were thirty-five I don't think my mother would still be buying me contacts.
Anyway, before you start thinking that this guy is weird for asking about my age, he wanted to know because I had to initial this new privacy form that basically says that Costco won't give out my eye-care information. I don't know if this is a statewide or nationwide thing, but it seems like the past three times I've been to the dentist I've had to sign something else related to this privacy deal, and I'm sure that when I go to the doctor next Friday, I'll have to do it again.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Hooray! I have a doctor. I'll be seeing her for a physical on August the 27th. I'm hoping that she'll have some idea of how to fix my bum and my back.
ETA: I'm not supposed to be on the internet right now. I'm supposed to be listening to Bjork and trying to get some writing done, but I feel the need to share. I got a letter from Eastern Bank telling me that my account has been abandoned for so long that they are going to consider it lost property and hand it over to the State Treasury if I don't send them back the form that came in the letter that says I still want it. I was under the impression that when I switched over to the Northern Massachusetts Telephone Workers Credit Union for all my banking, I closed out that account, or rather, my mother did, since this was a while ago and my mom took care of that account for me. So I called the 800 number, entered the account number on the letter, and it told me that I have $348 and change, and I thought, "Woo-hoo! Winter wardrobe!" Now, instead of writing, I'm going to rifle through my junk drawers and see if I have one of my old Eastern Bank pass book in there, just in case they ask for it when I go to claim my treasure. Oh, please let me claim my treasure!
ETA: I'm not supposed to be on the internet right now. I'm supposed to be listening to Bjork and trying to get some writing done, but I feel the need to share. I got a letter from Eastern Bank telling me that my account has been abandoned for so long that they are going to consider it lost property and hand it over to the State Treasury if I don't send them back the form that came in the letter that says I still want it. I was under the impression that when I switched over to the Northern Massachusetts Telephone Workers Credit Union for all my banking, I closed out that account, or rather, my mother did, since this was a while ago and my mom took care of that account for me. So I called the 800 number, entered the account number on the letter, and it told me that I have $348 and change, and I thought, "Woo-hoo! Winter wardrobe!" Now, instead of writing, I'm going to rifle through my junk drawers and see if I have one of my old Eastern Bank pass book in there, just in case they ask for it when I go to claim my treasure. Oh, please let me claim my treasure!
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
I fall to pieces
So, along with my growing ass, as Amy was so, so kind to call my possible coccyx tumor, my back is going out on me. It used to happen every once in a while; I would turn my left foot a certain way or get up from a chair and get a sharp, shooting pain in my lower back and down my leg. Every once in a while. Now it seems to happen about once a week, sometimes twice. And it lingers. I have to stand very still for a minute or so and then try to bend and lift my leg until it goes away. Not fun. I really have to get a doctor.
I don't know what's going on with me, so I'm going to blame it on pms again. Lately just about anything on tv can make me cry. I'm not sad. I don't start sobbing or anything. But I was watching the end of A League of Their Own last weekend and I got choked up. Then, last night, I shed a tear or two while watching Airline on A&E because they showed a clip of a soldier coming home from Iraq and meeting his family at the gate. And this morning on the Today show they had a segment about the history of the modern games and they had about thirty seconds on the games in Munich when the Israeli team was taken hostage by Palestinians and killed. Choked up again (In my defense, I have seen the devastating documentary "One day in September," so I'm really familiar with all the horrible details of the incident). Stuff on tv never used to make me cry. If I'm not careful I'm going to end up crying at the end of random Full House episodes just like Tish.
Speaking of tv, I really don't care about the bronze medal winner in Judo enough to watch an interview, so I switched over to Highlander for a moment (they're running the 90% shite sixth season right now) and who do I see on the screen playing the coked-up son of an American diplomat but Wesley Windham-Pryce. Yes, Alexis Denisof from Angel and Buffy was on Highlander, sans his foxy faux-British accent. I just found that interesting because Giles did a guest spot on Highlander during the first season. All these sci-fi/fantasy genre shows trade guest stars. Someone (not me, because I at least want to pretend that I have a life), should make a chart.
To end on a cute note today, my mom reads a lot of murder mystery/legal thriller novels, and recently she read one with a fairly ghastly set of murders (although I don't know if that had any contribution to her bad dream). The other night she had a nightmare and then started hearing noises in the house that were making her really paranoid, and she said that she almost crawled into bed with me. I told her that she could do that any time she wanted, but she has a bigger bed, so we'll sleep in her room. I actually woke her up and asked if I could sleep in her bed when we first moved in here because I wasn't used to the noises the house made at night and I was too scared to go to sleep. I figure I owe her at least one.
I don't know what's going on with me, so I'm going to blame it on pms again. Lately just about anything on tv can make me cry. I'm not sad. I don't start sobbing or anything. But I was watching the end of A League of Their Own last weekend and I got choked up. Then, last night, I shed a tear or two while watching Airline on A&E because they showed a clip of a soldier coming home from Iraq and meeting his family at the gate. And this morning on the Today show they had a segment about the history of the modern games and they had about thirty seconds on the games in Munich when the Israeli team was taken hostage by Palestinians and killed. Choked up again (In my defense, I have seen the devastating documentary "One day in September," so I'm really familiar with all the horrible details of the incident). Stuff on tv never used to make me cry. If I'm not careful I'm going to end up crying at the end of random Full House episodes just like Tish.
Speaking of tv, I really don't care about the bronze medal winner in Judo enough to watch an interview, so I switched over to Highlander for a moment (they're running the 90% shite sixth season right now) and who do I see on the screen playing the coked-up son of an American diplomat but Wesley Windham-Pryce. Yes, Alexis Denisof from Angel and Buffy was on Highlander, sans his foxy faux-British accent. I just found that interesting because Giles did a guest spot on Highlander during the first season. All these sci-fi/fantasy genre shows trade guest stars. Someone (not me, because I at least want to pretend that I have a life), should make a chart.
To end on a cute note today, my mom reads a lot of murder mystery/legal thriller novels, and recently she read one with a fairly ghastly set of murders (although I don't know if that had any contribution to her bad dream). The other night she had a nightmare and then started hearing noises in the house that were making her really paranoid, and she said that she almost crawled into bed with me. I told her that she could do that any time she wanted, but she has a bigger bed, so we'll sleep in her room. I actually woke her up and asked if I could sleep in her bed when we first moved in here because I wasn't used to the noises the house made at night and I was too scared to go to sleep. I figure I owe her at least one.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Yay! I'm all cleaned and I'm clothed to boot. Also, I have a painful knob on the end of my tailbone. Hmmm . . . maybe I should get that checked out before I'm kicked off of my mother's health insurance. Also, I should probably get a primary care physician.
In other news, might I direct your attention to the link below Slayage (which, I realize, is rather obsolete since both Buffy and Angel have gone off the air) titled "August Strindberg and Helium?" This will only be amusing if you can listen to it. It serioulsy makes me squee like a little girl. I hope you enjoy.
In other news, might I direct your attention to the link below Slayage (which, I realize, is rather obsolete since both Buffy and Angel have gone off the air) titled "August Strindberg and Helium?" This will only be amusing if you can listen to it. It serioulsy makes me squee like a little girl. I hope you enjoy.
My 400th Post
I have neglected to do laundry for a week and a half, and now I have no clothes. I'm naked! Well, that's not true, (or is it?) but it might as well be because it's not like I can go out in public until the wash is done. Hell, I can't even take a shower. Actually, I could, but I'd have no water pressure and it would take me twenty minutes just to wash my hair. But it is only sixty out and I just bought this lovely black and white striped wool coat that goes down about mid-thigh, so if I was in a pinch I could throw that on and my nudity wouldn't be too obvious.
Enough of my nakedness. I was doing some touching up on the walls near the ceiling when I heard a commercial for a weight loss center and a woman who lost 130 pounds said something like "My friends are so jealous," and it really ticked me off. I mean, why can't her friends be happy for her? Because all women are petty and jealous and in competition with each other, so they can never really be friends. Who came up with that? I'm sure that some women are like that, but I've never felt that way with my own friends.
Okay, I think my clothes are done. It's time to throw them in the dryer and hop in the shower.
Enough of my nakedness. I was doing some touching up on the walls near the ceiling when I heard a commercial for a weight loss center and a woman who lost 130 pounds said something like "My friends are so jealous," and it really ticked me off. I mean, why can't her friends be happy for her? Because all women are petty and jealous and in competition with each other, so they can never really be friends. Who came up with that? I'm sure that some women are like that, but I've never felt that way with my own friends.
Okay, I think my clothes are done. It's time to throw them in the dryer and hop in the shower.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Magical Mystery Paint
More painting today--this time it was the ceiling, which didn't make me want to die like the trim did the other day. I think my problem was that I didn't take any breaks and I overheated myself. Today I made sure I sat down at least once an hour and had a glass of water. No overheating this time, but I really had to go to the bathroom.
The ceiling paint goes on mauve so you can see where you painted and then dries bright white. It was amazing! I was so much more amused by it than I should have been. And I got a great deltoid work-out, what with all the hoisting of the paint-laden roller over my head and moving it back and forth.
My dad was supposed to call me about an hour ago. He wants to go to the beach tomorrow and I'm all for it unless it starts raining. But if it's just going to be cloudy I see no reason why we shouldn't go. The water can't be any colder than the last time I went in with Tracy. He's been having a hard time lately. He told me earlier today that they moved my Nana to a nursing home in Saugus and I could tell by the way he talked that it really upset him. Poor Nana. She's going to hate it up there.
The ceiling paint goes on mauve so you can see where you painted and then dries bright white. It was amazing! I was so much more amused by it than I should have been. And I got a great deltoid work-out, what with all the hoisting of the paint-laden roller over my head and moving it back and forth.
My dad was supposed to call me about an hour ago. He wants to go to the beach tomorrow and I'm all for it unless it starts raining. But if it's just going to be cloudy I see no reason why we shouldn't go. The water can't be any colder than the last time I went in with Tracy. He's been having a hard time lately. He told me earlier today that they moved my Nana to a nursing home in Saugus and I could tell by the way he talked that it really upset him. Poor Nana. She's going to hate it up there.
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
We painted all day today, and when I say all day, I mean all day. We started painting the trim and the doors in the living room and the hallway at around 9:30 and didn't finish until about 4. Two coats. I am wrecked. All my mom kept saying was "now I know why painters charge so friggin' much." We were going to clean and paint the ceiling tomorrow, but then decided that we should probably do something with a little less impact, like shopping.
Monday, August 09, 2004
Amy loves me, so I am blogging, although I have a sneaking suspicion that her need for me to blog has less to do with love and a little more to do with the boredom of banking.
My mum is home all this week and we're going to paint the living room and the hallway. All the walls are white, so at least we won't have to prime anything. The color is called "brown teepee," and it's a lovely tan that will go nicely with the maroon couches and the beige carpet, but no so much the blue drapes.
I had my first driving lesson with the guy from the North Shore Driving School yesterday. It turns out that he's one of the guys who took me on my road lessons when I was taking driver's ed. at Michaud. He's a nice guy but he talks non-stop about all this stuff I need to remember and it kind of goes in one ear and out the other because I'm focusing on the road and trying not to die, although I really did try my best to listen. I knew it was going to suck when I took the right out of my driveway and totally screwed it up, going too far over to the left and then swinging too far right. I've been doing it fine in my mother's Mazda but the minute I got into that car I knew I was in trouble. Plus, he wants me to do this hand-over-hand turning thing with my hands really close together which is completely screwing my shit up. And since I really want to get the test over and done with, I have a two-hour lesson today at four. I'm hoping I'll do slightly better, or at least not embarrass myself so much again.
My mum is home all this week and we're going to paint the living room and the hallway. All the walls are white, so at least we won't have to prime anything. The color is called "brown teepee," and it's a lovely tan that will go nicely with the maroon couches and the beige carpet, but no so much the blue drapes.
I had my first driving lesson with the guy from the North Shore Driving School yesterday. It turns out that he's one of the guys who took me on my road lessons when I was taking driver's ed. at Michaud. He's a nice guy but he talks non-stop about all this stuff I need to remember and it kind of goes in one ear and out the other because I'm focusing on the road and trying not to die, although I really did try my best to listen. I knew it was going to suck when I took the right out of my driveway and totally screwed it up, going too far over to the left and then swinging too far right. I've been doing it fine in my mother's Mazda but the minute I got into that car I knew I was in trouble. Plus, he wants me to do this hand-over-hand turning thing with my hands really close together which is completely screwing my shit up. And since I really want to get the test over and done with, I have a two-hour lesson today at four. I'm hoping I'll do slightly better, or at least not embarrass myself so much again.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Common sense takes a holiday
Have you ever read or seen something that you wish you could erase from your brain but you can't even complain about it because you knew very well what was going to pop up when you clicked on that link so it's your own damn fault for not being able to control your morbid impulses? I did that today. There's a Canadian horror movie called "Saw" that's coming out this fall. I had heard about it, knew the premise, even saw a couple posters, and yet when I came across a link on CHUD for a trailer, I just couldn't help myself. Basically all you need to know is that it's about a serial killer who traps his victims and puts them in diabolical kill-or-be-killed situations with each other. I think the tagline is something like "How much blood would you spill to stay alive?" I won't be rushing out to see this one. Actually, I think it's probably going near the top of my "Under no circumstances are you to watch this movie--ever!" list, right below "The Exorcist," and probably above both versions of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Seriously, I was getting freaked in broad daylight.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
I just finished the application for my second Sallie Mae loan. As of November, 2006, I will officially owe them over $22,000. Don't you wish you took the GRE and applied to grad school, Amy?
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
I'm not generally a superstitious person, but you know how it's said that bad news comes in threes?
Saturday, after we saw The Village, Tracy was just pulling into my driveway when she got a call on her cell phone from Jeff's Uncle Richard (Jeff came with us, too. He hated the movie). I could tell it was bad news, especially when she handed the phone to Jeff, so I hopped out of the car so they could go do what they had to do. She called me yesterday to tell me that Jeff's grandfather, who had been ill for a long time, passed away on Saturday not long after she and Jeff arrived at the hospital. It was a terrible thing to witness, she said, even more so when Jeff's grandmother came into the room.
Then she told me that Gloria's husband had died of heart attack without warning. He was only 62. Gloria used to live up the street from her. We used to go swimming in her pool all the time, and we took ceramics classes from her and her daughter. A few years ago Gloria moved to North Carolina. Tracy's mom and her sisters just got back from visiting her this past Thursday. It looks like Diana will be flying back down there again.
We talked about how awful it all was, because that's all you can really say when awful things like these happen, and then Tracy brought up the rule of three. I didn't think much more about it until last night around nine o'clock when my mom got a call from a woman she used to work with. A former boss of hers just passed away.
Like I said, I'm not superstitious. But it's strange sometimes how coincidence allows tragedies to group themselves together like that.
Or maybe it comes in fours. I just got a call from Tracy that her Great Uncle Tom's brother passed away.
Saturday, after we saw The Village, Tracy was just pulling into my driveway when she got a call on her cell phone from Jeff's Uncle Richard (Jeff came with us, too. He hated the movie). I could tell it was bad news, especially when she handed the phone to Jeff, so I hopped out of the car so they could go do what they had to do. She called me yesterday to tell me that Jeff's grandfather, who had been ill for a long time, passed away on Saturday not long after she and Jeff arrived at the hospital. It was a terrible thing to witness, she said, even more so when Jeff's grandmother came into the room.
Then she told me that Gloria's husband had died of heart attack without warning. He was only 62. Gloria used to live up the street from her. We used to go swimming in her pool all the time, and we took ceramics classes from her and her daughter. A few years ago Gloria moved to North Carolina. Tracy's mom and her sisters just got back from visiting her this past Thursday. It looks like Diana will be flying back down there again.
We talked about how awful it all was, because that's all you can really say when awful things like these happen, and then Tracy brought up the rule of three. I didn't think much more about it until last night around nine o'clock when my mom got a call from a woman she used to work with. A former boss of hers just passed away.
Like I said, I'm not superstitious. But it's strange sometimes how coincidence allows tragedies to group themselves together like that.
Or maybe it comes in fours. I just got a call from Tracy that her Great Uncle Tom's brother passed away.
Monday, August 02, 2004
Woe unto me for I have but one ginger-chew rattling around in the container and must now order more from the internet
That is all
I bought Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right yesterday. I was at Costco with my mom and saw a book by Catherine Coulter which made me think of Ann Coulter which made me think "God, I hate that woman." Then I saw Franken's book and opened it on a section titled, "Ann Coulter: Nutcase" (which is immediately followed by a chapter titled "You know who I don't like? Ann Coulter"). It was meant to be. I'm 153 pages into it.
So, being the fairly liberal Democrat that I am, obviously I'm quite pissed at everything in the book, but mostly about the hatchett job done on Al Gore. The press made him out to be some kind of egotistical liar, what with the whole "I invented the Internet" thing, among others. You know what? He never said that. He said, truthfully, that he championed getting Arpanet funded, which is an armed forces computer network that was the basis for the Internet. In another instance he quoted something correctly out of a Tennessee newspaper, but the newspaper had misquoted the person it had interviewed. Who do you think they called a liar, the newspaper or Al Gore? Meanwhile, Bush is saying all kinds of stupid things ("subliminable") and lying about who benefitted from tax cuts in Texas and bragging about a patients' rights bill in Texas (that he actually vetoed) and the only place I hear about this stuff is The Daily Show. I hate Bush. Honestly, if he gets elected again we should really and truly start looking at real estate in Tuktuyuktuk. Or at least Vancouver.
I wish that McCain had gotten the Republican party nomination because you know what? If he had won the election he would have won it honestly, and even though I would have still been pissed that Gore lost, at least McCain is a man that I can respect.
So, being the fairly liberal Democrat that I am, obviously I'm quite pissed at everything in the book, but mostly about the hatchett job done on Al Gore. The press made him out to be some kind of egotistical liar, what with the whole "I invented the Internet" thing, among others. You know what? He never said that. He said, truthfully, that he championed getting Arpanet funded, which is an armed forces computer network that was the basis for the Internet. In another instance he quoted something correctly out of a Tennessee newspaper, but the newspaper had misquoted the person it had interviewed. Who do you think they called a liar, the newspaper or Al Gore? Meanwhile, Bush is saying all kinds of stupid things ("subliminable") and lying about who benefitted from tax cuts in Texas and bragging about a patients' rights bill in Texas (that he actually vetoed) and the only place I hear about this stuff is The Daily Show. I hate Bush. Honestly, if he gets elected again we should really and truly start looking at real estate in Tuktuyuktuk. Or at least Vancouver.
I wish that McCain had gotten the Republican party nomination because you know what? If he had won the election he would have won it honestly, and even though I would have still been pissed that Gore lost, at least McCain is a man that I can respect.
