Hello to the era of going to the store to buy more ice
because we are running out.
Hello to feelings that arrive unintroduced.
Hello to the nonfunctional sprig of parsley
and the game of finding meaning in coincidence.
from David Berman's "Cassette County", Actual Air
Went to see Duvall last night at the Empty Bottle. But first Sharon and I went to pick up Gregg at Columbia 'cause he was working at the writing center. I drove around the block several times 'cause there was no parking, but we were finally on our way. The whole night, I had no idea where we were going so I drove like I was drunk, and we passed what must have been thousands of police cars, and I made Gregg nervous by going through yellow lights with cops in sight. Pele opened, and they were all right. They had an apple notebook on stage to make noises with. I was most impressed by the drummer. He was insane. He went through about 4 sets of sticks and was biting the high hat. Duvall was great. It was also Josh's wedding anniversary, and he sang the first song he ever wrote for his wife when he was fifteen (no, he didn't marry at 15, he just knew he loved her then), and he sang "Mrs. You and Me"..."and I'd rather be too young than too old to feel the way I do about you..." It was beautiful. We skipped the headliners, Hey Mercedes 'cause we were tired. I bought a Duvall shirt thinking it was white, but when we got outside, it was yellow...grrrrr.....I don't ever wear yellow. Driving down Michigan Avenue in Chicago, we were stopped at a light, and the SUV in front of us had this license plate: YES I 3 and we were all confused...what did it mean? I said it probably meant the guy liked threesomes. And I tried to get a picture of it, but we were all laughing too hard by then that my hand shook, and it's blurry. We had to drop off Gregg in Forest Park 'cause he parked there so we drove there, and we followed Gregg to Jedi's Garden to have some food 'cause he was starving. He was going 5 under the limit, and Sharon and I were so tired that we were in the state when everything's funny, and we kept sticking our head out the windows and yelling at him to speed up, but he never did. | |
Woke up before 4 am today so I could go online and check my e-mails. It's not really as pathetic as it sounds. I wrote Si the other day groveling and begging for help on getting stupid tickets from London to Marseille, and we finally figured out what to do, and now my tickets are on their way to his house, thank god. I love that guy. Well, maybe "love" isn't the word, exactly, but I think he's cool. | |
I've been on the phone and online all day looking up stuff on raileurope and plane fares, etc. I just talked to a representative of raileurope, and he had a lovely English accent... I think I was drooling on the phone. This does not bode well for the trip. I'll have to be walking around with a bucket or a sponge or something. | |
Last weekend, Sharon, Janice, Joan and I went to see Ben Folds at the Vic. It was blizzarding, and Sharon fell on the ice twice (once in her driveway and then again on Belmont -- she needs new shoes). The Divine Comedy opened, and he was amazing. I was just blown away by his set. Ben Folds was fun as always, and it was great being around all these people who sang along to every single song. And he played Eddie Walker and Best Imitation... and Video...and Evaporated...aahhh...bliss. It was like Stine talked to him beforehand and requested these songs. Last Friday, Stine and I went to see Denison Witmer play at Schuba's. He was really excellent. Six Part Seven opened for him, and they were pretty good. Then Stine and I met up with Solomon on some corner on Belmont, and Solomon told us how horrible it was to stand there all by himself 'cause several men brushed up to him a couple of times. hehe We had some Thai food and talked about penises. And then we walked over to Solomon's apartment and met his roommates and their boyfriends, and I wished I was a gay man. And we looked at lots of pictures, and the cat kept hitting my face with his tail. Oh, and apparently, I'm a Circ supervisor! I worked on Saturday 'cause Ledel called in sick, and I did the closing announcements and locked up the money and helped Debbie lock up the doors, and I didn't even really think about it, but as we were locking up, she looked at me and said: "Oh, did you know you're hired?" =D HUZZAH! | |
I got a VISA check card. This is dangerous. But I do need it to withdraw cash when I'm in Europe so I guess it's a good thing I've got one. Must exercise self-control. I think my interview for the Circ supervisor job went well. I was a little nervous. I mean, I know that Debbie and Julie have known me for 3 years and that I have a lot of experience that makes me eligible for the job, but in a way, I also feel that because they know me, they know my faults, too. Well, we'll see. I saw Denise's mom at the library with her friend Carolyn. We must have hugged 10 times. hehe | |
I love you, Denise!! =D Thanks for the lovely frog package. I love "Squirt!" and I think I'll wear the frog prince pin to work. PS: You're right...no matter how many times I kissed him, he didn't turn into a prince! =D | |
Ledel MIA = 4 I feel like crap...damn sinuses. And I wish I didn't have a throat. Damn coughing fits. Dreamed I was in the Olympics for some event or other. Don't know why. Dislike this girl at work intensely still. I need to get over that. | |
Also, am avoiding Jesse 'cause I don't think I can deal with him prosing on about music tonight. bleh. | |
Am suddenly interested in Cary Grant. Ledel MIA = 3 | |
We're having a little...bet at work. Ledel is always calling in sick; we lost count of it last month. It was migraines and food poisoning and what-not. We're keeping track this time though. The month has just started, and she's already called in sick twice: Feb. 1st, Friday night and then again on Saturday. Kay actually called me 'cause she wanted to know if I could work (but I couldn't). I wonder if Kay will want to be in on the bet? Darla's betting on 8, Sue says 7, and I say 5 (though I really think I should go for 12 or 10). We're all at 2 now, and I think Darla's gonna win, drat her. I'll have to save up for dinner 'cause I have a feeling I'm gonna lose. Actually did homework today. I now know a lot more about Mad Cow Disease. And I picked up several acronyms on the way so I can now throw around BSE and nvCJD and actually know what they mean. Also ate half a gallon of ice cream. mmmmmm.... | |
Woke up at 10. Lay in bed till 12. Had lunch. Took a shower. Didn't put on a bra 'cause I was just sitting around the house. Fast forward: 5pm. Am at work...I feel a bit...different... Eeek!! (I went home to add that last bit of clothing.) Also, Therese was telling me that one of her plants died, but this other one survived and (this is what I thought she said) it was sitting outside in the patio with her panties and was really thriving. And I just kind of looked at her and said: "Oh, it must be because of your panties." And she looked at me. And then it occurred to me that she couldn't have said panties; she meant pansies. Today was an underwear day. I think I'll put on that mp3 of The Magnetic Fields' 'Underwear' song. | |
Shoveled snow this morning. My shoulders are killing me. It was the gross heavy kind of snow. It was wonderful outside though. A nice cool breeze from the north... The snow must have been 8 inches thick. My brother, my mom and I shoveled the driveway, and I drove to work only to find that we're closed at the moment and are gonna reopen at 1pm. grrrr.... Ah, well. Now I can take a shower and stop smelling of the outside. I freaked out yesterday for a bit when I looked through the tickets 'cause we've got student ID cards with them, and I wasn't sure if I was actually eligible since I only go to school part-time so I left 3 hysterical messages on my sister's cell phone. She said I was silly. Of course she already checked that sort of thing. She's good. I don't know why she thinks I should do the Eurorail tickets. I'll prolly end up getting us tickets for Italy or something. Yay, it's Thursday! I can see the conclusion for Rose Red. State of the Union address cramping my style... I'm gonna have to have more pillows than last time (I barricaded myself at one end of the sofa). I've discovered something. I need to take my sister shopping if I want to buy clothes; Denise if I want hats and toys; my brother if I want jewelry. Reminder to self: buy Ben Folds tickets on Saturday. I feel like making snow sculptures. | |
Whee! Tickets arrived in the mail. ...oh no...my turn to make train reservations for Eurorail. Bleh. It's still snowing. Too lazy to go to work. Have to stop at post office. Must think of paycheck I can pick up today. Must buy new luggage with it. | |
OH NO!! Mates of State are playing my favorite venue, Shuba's, the 22 of March...I'll be in England!! NNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! | |
So I had this irrational dislike for this girl at work. And it bothered me that I didn't know why I disliked her so intensely. It's not as if she's not nice, no, she's super sugar nice. And I think it's because she's not middle-aged! I get along quite well with the other clerks; most are married and have children and treat me like a daughter. Perhaps I dislike having another "sibling". Eugh. | |
I had a dream that I was walking around aimlessly in a pink bathrobe. On Si's suggestion, I read Kerouac's Lonesome Traveler. It took me a month to read the first few pages so I stopped reading that and picked up On the Road instead, and I enjoyed that one immensely. And though I think Dean Moriarty is a bastard, I love his energy and love of life. He was just so excited over every bit of life and loved every bit of it, but he was also a crazy rat bastard. Am reading Dharma Bums now. I watched Stephen King's Rose Red last night. Whee! I dislike reading his books, but I love it when they become miniseries..es... =) | |
Today, my dad is 50. And my sister actually bought the plane tickets to Europe. Things always come back to me days after. I just got a new stuffed cat toy (and his name is Cairo though Stine says it ought to be Pistachio but it's my cat), and on Sunday, I had placed it by my pillow when I went to sleep. I dreamed that he was really angry with me and started scratching me up badly because I'd dropped him on the floor. When I woke up, Cairo was on the floor. I hate dreams like that. Just got back from dinner at LP with Stine & Sharon. We talked a lot about socialism and government and such, things that we only have an inkling about, really, but Sharon has joined a Socialist group in school, to discuss it, I guess, and it made for an interesting dinner conversation. Barry Manilow will be in town soon. Sharon always gets informed of his visits to town because for some reason she's on the mailing list. She insists she knows nothing about it. Riiigghhhtt... She'll be first in line for tickets. =D Also for Gwar. | |
I had a dream that I went to Maine by myself and ended up making out with a really cute boy in some small town's train station behind some boxes and had to get rid of a dangerous art book in the middle of the night. Hmmmm...no more eating before going to bed. | |
My brother and I turned my room upside down last night looking for my capo. We used the Magic 8 Ball so it was sort of like dowsing (or is that using a dowsing rod?)...but that thing is a lying piece of... grrrr... Still haven't found the capo. I went to bed with a Loudermilk EP on repeat. Si's band is really (times more than zero) good, and I'm not just saying that 'cause he's my friend. Reminded me of Cowboy Junkies 'cause Rhiannon's voice is a lot like Margo's. | |
Yesterday was loads of fun. Denise and I went downtown to Clark and Belmont and went up and down the streets (well, mostly Belmont) going in and out of shops and running back to the car every 2 hours to put more quarters in the parking meter. I need to move to Chicago. There are lots of cute boys there I could ogle. There were quite a few of them in The Alley when Denise and I were admiring the dummy's pants. And while we were there, I got this lovely new hat. I'm glad Denise was there or I'd have gotten several bad hats. I can't help it...I am just attracted to these terrible-looking hats that have tassels and poofy balls and cat ears. What I really wanted to get were these shoes from Taboo Taboo. They were Tredair and were horribly expensive. They were red Mary Janes with black kittens (see new user icon)... THEY MUST BE MINE!!! I'm gonna see how much they are in London -- may be slightly cheaper. Denise got some kickass earrings there and a bracelet with Betty Page snaps. When I saw the bracelet, I thought it was cool, but when she turned it around to fasten it, I knew she had to have it, and she did! =D We had lunch at Thai D'Light (or was it D'Lite? -- at any rate, the "i" was a palm tree), and I had tofu soup and some...um, spicy noodle dish, and I actually ate the entree with chopsticks (yay! I've been practicing my skills on popcorn shrimp), and so did Denise, and the food was yummy, and I think I need more Thai food. Surprisingly, I didn't feel all that sleepy afterwards like I usually do after eating a meal. Good thing, too. The drive back home was awful 'cause it was rush hour traffic, and there were all these insane cab drivers swerving in and out of lanes without so much as a fucking signal, but we survived it. Diho was fun. I got two bottles of Ramune (the one with the whale), some Japanese cookies shaped like mushrooms (and I mean with the stalks and everything -- would have tasted better if it was strawberry mushrooms) and some giant strawberry Pocky (and Denise gave me the rest of hers so it was like winning the lottery or something). I loved how Denise described Pocky... "It's like Yan Yan for lazy people." And that's exactly what it is! hehehe I like Pocky; it's really good, but I prefer Yan Yan 'cause it's more fun...you have to gauge how much you have to dip. (I was gonna add "the stick", but it seemed a bit dirty...like some of the rings that we saw yesterday.) Jesse called me a few hours after I got home so I went to pick him up, and he brought his electric guitar and a 12-string guitar which was really cool but was a pain to tune, and we sat in the room downstairs and played some stuff and had soy milk (which he spilled on the floor), and I shared my giant strawberry Pocky and the funny chocolate mushrooms, and we had a grand time. | |