So, I'm home. I have about five hundred things I could write about (I will probably do that tomorrow), but instead I will leave you with this.

I GOT INTO THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION!!!!

Weeeeeeeeeee!!

I came home from work in a rather crabby "I hate people" mood as did Catherine who had a run in with a horrible UHS doctor. Our moods are being dramatically improved by watching (and thoroughly mocking) The Saint and a fetalicious pizza from Glass Nickel.

I suppose at some point I should master the dish mountain and the litter box and try to remove cat hair from various surfaces.

But not yet.

God this movie is horrible.

I was reading Carol Queen's Real Live Nude Girl Book this morning and that jumped out at me. I had a dude! totally! moment.

Anyway, I had two cups of coffee with sweetened condensed milk in them this morning. It was goooooood but I remember why I can't drink coffee regularly. I'm going to be so bouncy today it won't be funny. I have zero concentration abilities right now.

I wish I was sleeping now, but the rush hour traffic going by my open window this morning woke me up nice and early. Since I had extra time before work, I called the airline and figured out that I can fly standby out of Madison at 7 fucking am tomorrow morning so I'll get home around noon instead of midnight. That should make my dad happy. Claire called me yesterday to beg me to take her to see X2 this weekend since none of her friends wanted to go (ahhhhh, even if she is popular, well adjusted, and normal, she's still a geek!) Catherine is finally back. She was supposed to come back on tuesday but got the flu and decided to stay a bit longer. I usually don't think like this, but I really hope she isn't contagious. I really really don't need to get sick now. She had the scary misfortune of hitting a deer on her way home from Madison two weeks ago. It totaled her parents car and really freaked her out. It's quite nice having her back though. We had a very entertaining talk for a couple hours last night.

( friend matching meme )

So, a pagan dies and...

Does anyone love this movie as much as I do? John Sayles is brilliant (Lone Star is one of the most intelligent films I've ever seen and he wrote, directed, and edited it).

Had a boring day today. Boss was surprisingly unbitchy. That was nice. Had another dinner with Beth and then went and ogled books. I got a $3 copy of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. That will be my airport reading next weekend (especially since I get to spend nearly 5 hours in O'Hare). I can't wait to go home. I keep hearing all these cute stories about the new puppy. I really want to meet him. Also can't wait to introduce Max (the person) to Max (the dog). That will amuse me greatly. I luuuurve my family's dogs. They're wonderful (despite shedding enough to make everyone in my house knee deep in dog hair)

Once again, quilting was lovely last (?) night. It's so nice to be around interesting women even if I'm on a quiet non-talky sort of night.

I'm going to sign up for bloodlossgirl's water aerobics class. I'm looking forward to being made to sweat in the water by the head of ass-kickery herself.

I have nothing planned for tomorrow. Hotdogs of the kosher variety were purchased this evening. Perhaps Beth and I will test out the tiny grill that her predecessor left on the roof. I haven't had a real hotdog (ie: one made out of actual dead animal) for quite awhile. I'm sure it will cause me to remember that I'm not wild about hotdogs.

Since it's actually her birthday now, Happy Birthday bardhorse!!! I'm looking forward to her birfday gathering in Porta Bella's wine cellar tomorrow night. I've not been there before.

I'm on the mailing list for Canterbury Books (a rather nifty indy bookstore in Madison). They're having a midnight Harry Potter release party! (eh, I'm a nerd). Yay for cool things in walking distance from my house. Beth and I won't have to go to Border's on Nixon afterall.

My grades, while sucky, are slightly better than expected. We'll just call this last semester my low point in my college career and leave it at that. (I did get a B in Physics though! That makes me happy. I can also tell my mother to shove it when she says, "but you're just like me and I'm no good at math" That will be so sweet.)

Tiiiiiiiiired. I think the cat is trying to send me a message by attempting to lay down on the keyboard. Sleep now! The birds are already chirping!

Ah. Panic attack averted.

About a month ago Beth asked me to buy a plane ticket for her to go to Newark the night before her flight to Isreal. She said she was leaving on the 25th and therefore needed to arrive on the 24th. Lalala. AA's website was being weird and wouldn't let me buy her ticket through my frequent flyer account and then finally took the reservation but emailed it to my address instead of Beth's. When I opened the email I had a minor freak out since there were two AA emails there (they changed my NY resevation). I thought I'd purchased a ticket for me to go to Newark on those dates (using my father's credit card...eeeep!). Anyway, I realized it was fine and calmed down.

So Beth, for some reason (I have a feeling I told her she needed to make a reservation for friday night) thought she was leaving for New Jersey tomorrow afternoon and going to Isreal on saturday. So did I. I told her I'd copy down her itinerary for her and had a major freak out when I thought I'd bought the wrong date for her. After some panicked email checking all was resolved, with only the hotel reservation wrong (we're working on changing that now).

*sigh* Fucking up your best friend's travel to their homeland...baaaaaaaad.

[edit: Saying you have to cancel for "military action" prevents you from paying a cancellation fee on hotels.com...w00t!]

I feel like crap. There really must be something wrong with my sleep cycle since I can't go to bed before 3 and can't sleep past 9. My head hurts. My neck hurts from napping in an odd face down position on the futon this afternoon after finishing my book. My cat decided to sleep on my lower back for an hour so I couldn't move (I was so deeply asleep that I couldn't figure out why I couldn't move, just that I couldn't). I intended to do all sorts of cleaning this week, but I haven't done any. My kitchen is starting to scare me. Maude is still queen of my giant pile o' crap that resides on the floor in my room. I really need to clear all that stuff away and straighten everything out since (I think?) peeps are staying at my place tomorrow night.

I wish I knew how to be neat.

Must.put.up.good.front.

Methinks it's going to storm tonight! It seems like it's been trying to all day but hasn't. I can't wait!

I was a lady of leisure today. I got up and made it to tutoring by 8. Had a blast with the kids. We played a couple of games of Mastermind and had a contest to see who could read The Fox in Socks the fastest without stumbling. *grin* I love that book. Sue and I used to force mom to read it as fast as she could when we were little...bet she wanted to kill us.

After, since I missed the 11 o'clock cycle of busses at the south transfer point, I went and wandered around in Yue Wah for half an hour. Always fun. I got filo dough, really stinky (but yummy and cheap) aged sheep's milk feta, some fancy schmancy ramen, a few avacados (I had one in my salad tonight...it was goooooood), miso (I have realized that miso added to mac&cheese; is quite yummy, and since the blue box stuff is a staple, I'm always looking for ways to improve it), and some more Apple Soda . I spent less than $10. I love asian markets!

I've been craving fish lately, specifically this weird roasted salmon thing that I've only attempted making at home. If I had a broiler that I knew how to use I might try it, but I have a demon stove (I'm not even sure it has a broiler).

Went home, put groceries away, and then went and read at Barnes and Nobles for nearly five hours. I read Peggy Vincent's book Babycatcher: Stories of a Modern Midwife. Wow, it was a really amzing story. My fascination with pregnancy and childbirth has reared it's head again. [sidenote: I have often thought about going into midwifery (especially homebirth midwifery) but really don't want to become an RN before hand. I think that it's something I may have to explore more in depth after (and if...don't think you can be a good midwife or doula unless you've done it yourself first) I have kids] I ran into scary Physics boy L. at Cub Food's while I was finishing my shopping for the week. He is quite cute, but alas is so short that he only would come up to my boobs (well maybe a little taller). Hmmmm.

I was in a sad/introspective/insecure place in my head before. I'm glad I had my paper journal out with me today. Pouring everything out on paper helped. I don't feel like I can do that here anymore. I am enjoying the past couple days by myself. Except for tutoring today, I barely spoke. Beth is coming back on wed. possibly with Max and Spencer (who would stay until friday if they can come down). That could potentially be a lot of fun. Too bad I'll be working during the day for the next three days.

I like this community.

I've realized that I will be on my own for the next two weeks (Beth is in Eau Claire until wed. night and is leaving for Isreal on friday, and Catherine is gone until the 27th.). Must find ways to entertain myself. It will probably involve many movies (I'm debating whether to see The Quiet American or Laurel Canyon tomorrow), quilting, cleaning, and reading. I'll be fucking Martha Stewart but with better colors. Bread making at 4am yay! But not tonight since I'm going to my last tutoring session at 7am tomorrow morning.

I brought work home with me today. What the hell was I thinking? Why is it I am a perfectionist when I am getting paid for something, but can't make myself give a shit about school (which would certainly pay more in the long run)?

I'm picking Beth up at Newark on 6/4 at 4 fucking AM. That should be interesting. Max will spend his first 12 hours in NY stuck in a traffic jam on the LIE during rush hour. fun fun fun. Shoot me please... I love Beth and I'll drive to New Jersey to pick her up...but *shudder* that drive is scary.

I am excited that we are going to Philidelphia (me, gonzowiz, nillfairy, and Max). We're definately doing the Mutter Museum and the Reading Terminal while we're there. Anyone else have good ideas? I haven't been to Philly since I was 11.

I need to decide if I'm doing the Madison Early Music Festival (and figure out how the hell to fund it) or use my financial aid to take a history class and psych instead. At least I know I got work study for the summer which means I can keep my job. I think I might get a second job this summer working as a retail monkey somewhere. I should find that somewhere soon. I need the cash.

I've been thinking about things I want to do when I get home. Besides the usual stuff, I'm definately dragging peeps to the Vanderbilt Estate specifically to visit the building with the enormous room full of dead, stuffed, painted fish. I thought it was something I dreamed up, but my mom verified that it actually exists. Rock!

My mom told me that Junior (the cat) died yesterday. I'm not too broken up about it. He was one of the two cats that have a room OF THEIR OWN (for the record my mom and Claire sleep on the floor in the den for some inexplicable reason). He was old. I wonder what will happen to Princess (she is terrified of the dogs and hasn't left upstairs since 1994)?

Another Swanson family animal story: the screen door that opens to the back yard is so broken that when it is "closed" (I'm waiting for the racoons to take up residence in the spice rack.) it is open at least four inches at the bottom (to let the cats in of course). Apparently a sparrow decided that our kitchen looked like fun and came into the house. It proceeded to stand on Shadow's head (the oldest of the family pack of dogs) and tweet. It pulled tufts of hair (oh dear god does he have a lot of hair) off Shadow's back (probably for it's nest) and then flew out of the house. There had better be pictures.

For some reason, old (like 70's/80's old) male republicans seem to love me (except for my dad's dad who matches that description but seems to want nothing to do with me).

I can't remember if I told the story of Mr. Paul J. Beck here, so I'll tell it anyway.

About a month ago I worked the open gallery night in the shop. About an hour before I had to close a well dressed old man, probably a couple inches over six feet tall and very solidly built, walked slowly with a cane up to my counter. He asked if there was a dissertation lecture on metallurgy tonight in the Elvehjem. I told him no, but he seemed very insistant that there was and wanted to make sure that the people there had his business card. He then gave me a stack of his cards that was about an inch thick and proceeded to tell me his life story. How he had run in the Chicago marathon every year for the last 30 years until he had a stroke and then a heart attack. And how ants have a much better society than humans and how he leared from Dr. Phil that women have larger vocabularies than men, and the history of heeled shoes. He talked and talked and talked until I had to close. He thanked me for my help and then gave me another stack of business cards to keep for myself.

Well, Paul J. Beck was back today to say hi. He wanted my opinion on which of the cards in his wallet to copy for a record. He proceeded to empty his wallet on the counter. All the cards were there, his Republican Party lifetime membership, the VA card, a fraternity lifetime membership card, the Richard Nixon Library supporter card (I shit you not...). I helped him lay them out and figure out which ones would copy and gave him directions to Helen C. White to copy them. He then told me about Latin etymology and how the students in the national spelling bee that he watched yesterday on ESPN would have benefitted from studying Classics.

While I was talking another one of my elderly fans came in (he was here this morning and showed me pictures of his paintings) to give me an invitation to the Madison rose show at the Olbrich Botanical gardens on 6/15.

Anyway, Paul J. Beck thanked me for my time and said that his other favorite sales clerk was also named Angie but she worked at Sears&Robuck; in Waukesha.

I have his address. I'm tempted to start writing him letters and giving cards to my friends so they can write him too...

What is it about me that attracts old lonely people to tell me their life stories? It happens to me all the time!!!

Back to writing my reports for the year! Ooof!

( I saw this on someone else's journal and I thought it was a good idea so I stole it... )