Yesterday, while I slept all afternoon, Nathan went out and put in a job application at the public library, then he went shopping at GameStop, Tunes, and Target. Most notably, he got me the DVD of The Big Lebowski. I looked for it at two Best Buys last weekend and neither had it. (I did however get an Underdog DVD for $10 at the first Best Buy. Oddly, the second Best Buy had the same thing for $15. I triumphed. {g}) He also bought some stuff at Tunes, and he got Super Mario RPG at GameStop. I was really excited about finally seeing Mario RPG. I thought it might be excellent.
So we went to play it and it kept freezing and I was really afraid my SNES was dying on me. I flaked out and grabbed every SNES game I own and that one and cleaned them out. I don't mean to say that I own a fancy-schmancy SNES cleaning kit or a videogame cleaning kit of any kind. I just used Q-tips and alcohol. I cleaned out every game, and I tried to clean out the SNES a little bit, but Q-tips are a little too wide. On the back of every game, they tell you not to do this. Well, that's been my method for years, and it always works out. And GameStop should really clean out games before they sell them, because some people are slobs and they just don't care, and that game was fil-thy. Blah blah blah. Anyway, my Super Nintendo is working just fine now.
So we went to play Super Mario RPG, and guess what. I found it so annoying that I had to leave the room in five minutes, and Nathan played it for five hours straight. Gah. He has questionable taste anyway.
posted by Beth at 9:53:00 AM
I cannot sleep. I tried. And I'm usually asleep by this time, so I don't know what gives.
This Christmas to New Year's time period sure did fly away more quickly than usual. I haven't even done anything. I've been reading and loving my Hollywood Squares book and playing a lot of videogames. I was really hooked on Pokémon Snap, which is a lot cuter and more fun than Pokémon Stadium, but then that's a very different kind of game. I found the last of the Pokémon last night, and now I'm kind of sad. I'm also disappointed that the game features only 63 Pokémon instead of 150. After I finished with that, I played Mario 64 a little more, and the ice level drove me nuts, so I went to play Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which I got for Christmas. It's really neat, but then that started to drive me crazy. Then I got in bed and played Zelda: Oracle of Seasons on GameBoy Color and that started to drive me crazy, so I quit with that and read about Hollywood Squares. I'm taking my time with the book, because I always feel a little sad, when I finish a book. Some people read just to finish. I don't. Then I went to watch my tape of the Squares from yesterday, and I'd forgotten to put a tape in, so I missed it. Bah. I am well aware that I am a loser. I'm cool with it. {g}
I do not feel like having New Year's Eve today. It just doesn't seem like it should be right now. Sometimes it does, but not this year. My family has to work, and that sucks for them, because they normally don't have to. And I'll probably sleep til 8 at night, then sit around and do nothing for the rest of the evening. Not that I'd rather go to a party or something. I wasn't invited to any, I don't know of any, and I dislike parties. I guess I don't even know what I'd like to be doing.
I'm bored, and my stomach hurts. Bah and ow.
posted by Beth at 9:37:00 AM
Sunday, December 29, 2002
This is something I whipped up in about one minute with the crummy Paint program that comes with all the Windows operating systems. It's called... Economy!
I'm sure it's very symbolic. {g} Also, I should point out that this was only made and posted, because I am very bored and lame.
posted by Beth at 10:47:00 PM
Wednesday, December 25, 2002
Hah! Gremlins and Gremlins II are on the Sci-Fi Channel!
I really love the Gremlins movies. They rock the house. And yeah, the first Gremlins takes place at Christmas, for Gizmo was a gift. I also just saw part of Christmas Vacation dubbed into Spanish on Telemundo.
I got many lovely things today. And people seem to enjoy giving me presents that begin with "cand," because I received a lot of candy and a lot of candles. I knew I was going to get it all along, but I'm really excited that I finally own Peter Marshall's book; he's the host of the classic Hollywood Squares. The current host seems secretly evil to me, and he's like school on Saturday. No class. That joke was stolen from Fat Albert, I apologize. But Peter Marshall is a class act.
And another surprise from today—well, I really love Wally Cox (he also was on Hollywood Squares, and he had a show in the early '50s with Tony Randall, whom I also love), today, I found out that Wally Cox lent his voice to Underdog! How did I miss that? Boy, well, I love Underdog now. {g}
And there's a picture of Wally Cox in my Dictionary of Teleliteracy, which was written by one of the professors who taught my TV History and Appreciation class who's also a TV critic for the New York Daily News. I hadn't seen the picture til today, when I thumbed through the book again. It was a pleasant surprise.
posted by Beth at 11:45:00 PM
It's Chistmas and we're eating dinner soon. It also happens that I'm wearing a jade bracelet and hiding from my family. That wasn't intentional, but I guess it's so, since I'm alone in here using the computer, while everyone else is in the kitchen and living room.
I'm very fond of this bracelet.
posted by Beth at 3:20:00 PM
Oh my, I am wildly moved by this version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" by the Young Fresh Fellows.
I got up sort of early. I think I went to bed after 8am and I got up a little before 2pm. I probably would have kept on sleeping, if my uncle hadn't asked me if I wanted to go with him. We went to the cemeteries where my grandparents and great grandparents are buried, then we ate lunch at McDonalds and walked around KMart for no good reason. We were about to go home, then at the last minute, we went to my Aunt Marjory's. It was really weird for me to go to someone else's house for awhile on Christmas Eve. Normally, everyone comes here. We didn't stay too long. Once we got back home, people started coming here. Mark and his mom were first. After they got here we walked over to Craig's, but he was asleep. I brought Dewey, but he was being wiggy, so I didn't stay long. I said hello to Uncle Bud, then we left, but not til after Sue gave me a hug and the biggest box of Godiva I have ever received in my life, and I haven't even had any in several years, so that was Good. After I got home, a lame chain of events occurred and I ended up cleaning out the bathtub, while everyone was over here. It was stupid and caused by my own lack of foresight. While people were over, I didn't hide as much as I often do, and that was nice. I probably talked to Mark most, and he gave me a mustard-colored shirt I'd had my eye on and I gave him the Friends trivia game that I believe Colleen also got for Christmas. It started to snow, so everyone left a little earlier than usual, and Nathan called to say he was in Virginia. I assume all or most of them will be back tomorrow for dinner.
I really hope Christmas Day is fun. I always feel like Christmas Eve is the best, then the next day is a letdown, but I don't exactly know why. I guess because I like Christmastime more than I like Christmas, and Christmas Day means the beginning of the end. I will try to feel good, though.
I feel very tired, but at the same time, I want to stay up and watch the Christmas stuff I haven't gotten to see so far. I always watch Christmas Vacation at some point as well as A Very Brady Christmas (which I'm saving for tomorrow, I think). But I'd also like to see It's A Wonderful Life, because I like it better, since I've seen Mark play George Bailey, and I also feel oddly compelled to watch Home Alone. And then there's A Christmas Story. What shall I do?
posted by Beth at 3:03:00 AM
Tuesday, December 24, 2002
I wish more people were blogging. Give me something to read, I don't care if it's Christmas!
And have a nice Christmas, dear reader.
It would truly be a miracle, if I could take control of myself and not sleep through most of today and tomorrow. I think I'll try to force myself to be up by noon or something.
In an attempt to be festive, I bought (okay, I asked my uncle to buy) a gold garland ponytailholder, last Saturday. I really like it, but it's falling apart, and I can tell that it won't be around next Christmas. I learned that Claire's sells a lot of cute things that I would never have cared about years ago. I also got some cute little flower earrings, and there were some hair things I wanted, but I'm not skilled enough to do anything with my hair. I looked at the directions on the back of those stick-things, and I know I'll never be able to follow it. I wish I'd discovered Claire's a few weeks earlier, so that I could have asked for earrings and stuff. And continuing my attempt to be festive, while watching (the new version of) Miracle and 34th Street, I painted my nails alternating red and green. It probably looks dorky.
Earlier Nathan, who will leave for Pennsylvania soon so that he can meet his family and leave for Virginia to see his grandparents, and I already exchanged presents. He gave me a Queen CD (I've meant to get myself one for ages but never did), a stuffed Nyago, a birthstone Marie (from the Aristocats) from the Disney Store, some chocolates (I don't know if that's supposed to count, actually), and supposedly another present is in the mail. Yes, I got two plush cats, interestingly.
What else can I say? Hmmm...
Okay, I've got nothing, so I'm going to go put my laundry away and perhaps listen to Dr. Demento's Christmas album. {g}
posted by Beth at 6:24:00 AM
Saturday, December 21, 2002
Finals are done. Yay!
Tonight, while at the Rag Shop (my mom was buying a zipper and fabric and things), I jokingly said that I wanted to put together a nativity scene with Hollywood Squares figures. I was kidding, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. Now I feel bad that I can't. {g} It would have been beautiful. Rose Marie would be Mary with Paul Lynde as Joseph. Peter Marshall, Wally Cox, and George Gobel as the three wise men and Charley Weaver, Jonathan Winters, Buddy Hackett (he was really good on the show, you know), and Jan Murray as shepherds. As for the baby Jesus, I'd have to use some generic baby. No baby has ever appeared on the old Hollywood Squares, as far as I know. Well, that technically isn't true. Wayland Flowers had a puppet of a baby, whose name I forget. Smitty? He was more famous for Madame, anyway. That's the beautiful holiday vision that I'm sharing with all of you.
The lesson for today is: shop around at book buyback.
Before my exam in learning and behaviorism, I overheard someone saying that they went to the book buyback in Robinson and were offered very little money for their books. They didn't accept and instead went to the book buyback in the student center and got more money for the same stuff. I took the exam, which was kind of hard, I guess. I have no idea how I did. Afterward, I ambled over to the book buyback at Robinson with the hopes of getting some money for two of my Magazine Article Writing books. Normally, I'm big on keeping my books, but these ones are just uninteresting and bleh. The first one (the one I bought new for like $50) is apparently worth nothing to the school, and the guy refused to accept it. The other book (a battered and crappy little thing I paid $10 for, used), he said he'd give me $1.50 for. I said no thanks and left. His rad southern accent did not make me lose my head and accept pocket change for my books. {g} Then I went to the student center and gave someone else the same stuff. This time, the lady was going to pay me for the first book (how come she would, when the other guy wouldn't take it at all?) for 4 measly dollars. I said no. The other book, the battered one, could get me $7, so I quickly took the money and ran. I didn't think I'd get more than $5. So shop around, kids. If anyone wants to buy a copy of Magazine Article Writing by Betsy P. Graham, I got the hook up. I'm thinking of going to the spring Magazine Article Writing class and asking if anyone wants to buy the book directly from me instead of paying the bookstore's inflated prices, next month.
Then I went to the computer lab and talked to Colleen and junk before calling Cindy up. My next class wasn't til 6:30, so we went to the store. Mark drove. I think he's a good driver, aside from the anger and hatred for other people on the road. {g} At the last minute, Mark and I decided that he should accompany me to my class, because all I had to do was hand in some things. We got there, and it was kind of weird. I've been to classes where parents brought their little kids, but not their 18-year-old cousins. While we were waiting for class to start, I heard someone playing Zelda on Gameboy Advance, and it got me all nostalgic for the SNES Zelda.
The class was only filled was a third of the usual people, because some people were late and others handed things in early, I guess. The teacher noticed Mark right away and shook his hand. She collected everything and asked us what we were doing for vacation and about old and new traditions. Not many people said much. Some guy said he and 16 relatives were spending Christmas and New Year's in Disneyworld. Merry ¢hri$tma$ indeed. I spoke up not. That's not totally true. I spoke up, when she asked if everyone's finals were over, and I said I had one left for Friday. She said she spoke a little Russian in college. That was neat. Oh, and she brought snacks! She made everyone take a cookie or candy or orange, after we handed our papers and journals in. I grabbed a cookie and shared it with Mark, and it was the most delicious cookie ever. Ev-er. On the way out, ten minutes later, Mark and I grabbed another cookie, and halfway to the elevator, we decided to get more. After all, you'd fall bad, if you brought in snacks and people didn't take many, right? Exactly. I meant to tell her they were great and ask what kind they were. When we got there, some kid was telling her that he and his girlfriend broke up and he missed her and she hated psychology and things were hard for him. I have no idea why people disclose this sort of thing to teachers. She's more of a counselor than a teacher, but still. I stood there waiting for her to acknowledge us or nod or something, but she was busy listening to the guy, so we waited, then Mark and I each took a cookie. Then we waited some more. No acknowledgment. So we left and felt totally awkward from just standing there, since we'd only come back for more snacks. Then we got in the elevator and were so wrapped up in feeling weird that it was two minutes before I'd realized we hadn't pushed the button. We are grade A dorks. {g} It was very TV-like.
I think I'm going to email her about getting the recipe. The cookies were more like a cake. I can't describe them, aside from how debilitatingly yummy they were.
Now only my Russian final remains and it's at 12:30. I should study and sleep. Eeshk.
posted by Beth at 3:05:00 AM
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
I am amused by this referral.
17 Dec, Tue, 22:34:24 Google: Robert Fulghum chicken fried steak
I want some cole slaw. Some chicken fried steak wouldn't be bad, either.
posted by Beth at 8:55:00 PM
My mom says she'll see about getting me a new printer for Christmas, so someone should see about helping me pick one out, since I know zero about printers. Zero!
I am currently listening to Dean Martin and working on a self-study for my adolescent development class, where I say such things as, "I am an only child. My mother is indulgent." It's coming along slowly, because I keep getting distracted. I think I'll get distracted again and look at my search referrals.
posted by Beth at 8:50:00 PM
Whoa, I just slept my ass off. I finished the paper yesterday afternoon at about 1, then I went to sleep for a couple hours. Got up, got to my 30-minute clarinet lesson 20 minutes late, but she's nice, so she just let me have it late. We played Christmas songs; that's a tradition that goes back as far as every Christmas that I've taken clarinet lessons (8 years). Then Unc and I went to my school and I handed in my paper. The prof wanted us to slip them under her office door, so I did. It seemed strange, though. I'd rather have left it in her mailbox in the main office, but she didn't ask us to do that. Then we went to the mall, and I returned something I got for my mom that I've decided not to give her. I meant to eat dinner at home, but my uncle didn't want to. We were going to eat in the food court, but it was too crowded to find a place to sit, so we went to Boston Market on the way home. They have A+ cole slaw. I wish I could eat cole slaw everyday. Then I struggled to stay awake and watch the SNL Christmas special, and fell asleep right afterward. I meant to sleep til maybe 11, but I just got up, right before 7. That's kind of bad, because I have to have another paper written for tomorrow and I have to study for another exam. Will there be time? I don't know. I'm really tempted to spend the whole morning eating candy and watching cartoons or playing Super Mario 64, but it would be better for me to either go back to sleep or read for my exam. I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere today.
posted by Beth at 7:21:00 AM
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
Grraaaah. I'm stupid. I have to write a paper for my magazine article writing class, the last paper. I haven't even started, and it's due in, oh, less than 12 hours. Actually, I have to leave the house by about 4 to get to my clarinet lesson, then go to school to hand this paper in. Of course I haven't writen a word, so here I go.
posted by Beth at 5:44:00 AM
Friday, December 13, 2002
Now playing: A Christmas mix I made last year
Yeah, last year, I made this Christmas mix and gave it out to some cousins and such. They probably all threw it out, lost it, or burned it or something. I'm bored, so I will share a tracklist with you. Some of the things I put on there are weird, and I didn't know how people would feel, when I gave them the CD. I mean, Sarah McLachlan, what?? See, just when you think I'm going to zig, I zag. {g}
1. They Might Be Giants - O Tannenbaum
2. Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Metallica - Carol of the Bells
3. Elton John - Step Into Christmas
4. Band-Aid - Do They Know It's Christmastime?
5. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Carolina Christmas
6. Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
7. Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
8. Ben Folds - Lonely Christmas Eve
9. XTC - Thanks For Christmas
10. Esquivel - White Christmas
11. Tom Lehrer - A Christmas Carol
12. "Weird Al" Yankovic - Christmas At Ground Zero
13. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Sleigh Ride
14. They Might Be Giants - Feast of Lights
15. Adam Sandler - The Chanukah Song
16. Rev. Run, Mase, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Salt 'N' Pepa, Onyx, and Keith Murray - Santa Baby
17. They Might Be Giants - Santa's Beard
18. The Vandals - Oi To The World
19. "Weird Al" Yankovic - The Night Santa Went Crazy
20. Snoop Dogg - Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto
21. The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)
22. Wesley Willis - Merry Christmas
And my CD has a special bonus track, because I made it last. I get a lounge version of themes from the Nutcracker that sarah sent me last year.
If I were to remakethe CD, it might be about 85% different, since I found some new songs that I wish I'd known last year, like that Moxy Fruvous thing.
I hope people aren't going to think my Christmas CD is some kind of offensive travesty or something. {g}
posted by Beth at 3:42:00 AM
Thursday, December 12, 2002
I am stuck at school. Today, I had my last Learning and Behaviorism class. We finally did our presentation that should have been done a week ago. Then I had my last Adolescent Development class. The whole class was just a big test (but not the final, which is a paper due next week). I got done at 8. Class ends at 9, so I asked to be picked up at 9. I called home and my uncle isn't there, so I've had to kill an hour here at the computer lab. I wish I'd known that I'd be getting out early, or I wish he had a cell phone. Yesterday was my last Russian class. We had to do one of those teacher evaluation things, and then a lady from the foreign language department said that in the fall, they're greatly expanding the Russian program to include more classes and a minor. Next fall, when I am out of school for good, because my school likes to mock me. :p
Here's the agenda for next week:
Tuesday: paper due for Magazine Article Writing (I need to start this soon)
Thursday: Learning and Behaviorism exam and self study for Adolescent Development is due
Friday: Russian I exam
I am hungry. I would like a cheeseburger, but I will be going home to eat leftover fish.
posted by Beth at 8:47:00 PM
This was in the paper last weekend. I must have over 30 Berenstain Bear books lying around somewhere. I like the article, although I dislike the author's "The Berenstain Bears are annoying" tone.
posted by Beth at 4:43:00 AM
I was just watching Animal Planet and I saw a grizzly bear and a cat who are friends. It was cute. They share food. I also ate a chocolate cheese muffin from My Favorite Muffin. And now *you* know all about it.
I should be reading. And tomorrow the girl in my group (well, two people don't really count as a group, but you know) have to do our presentation that we couldn't do last week because it snowed. I have not communicated with her, so I hope she remembers to bring in the paper. I don't have it, and she uses Works or some crazy thing like that, so I couldn't do anything with it anyway. I also hope she does most of the talking.
Tomorrow, I have to get up and call up people and ask if they know the lady I wrote a profile on, so that maybe I can get an anecdote or story or quote of any kind about her to incorporate into my paper. It's due tomorrow and everything. I tried getting people on Wednesday, Friday, and today to no avail. I really hope someone can say something, when I call. I'd prefer to have done this in person, but the couple times I showed up, the political science office was closed and locked up. Crum.
A condensed version of my weekend, if you please.
Friday My mom went to some dance recital thing for her boyfriend's granddaughter, so I went shopping just with my uncle. We went to Bob Evans for the first time in months. We both had chicken fried steaks. I now know that I like chicken fried steak. You know who else likes chicken fried steak? Robert Fulghum, author of All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten. Then we went to some stores and bought the very last fake 6.5' pencil tree at Lowe's. We have yet to put it up.
Saturday There was a party at my cousins' house, or my aunt and uncle's house, if you please; it's the same place. I said I wasn't going to go. Instead, Nathan, Uncle John, Craig (!!!), and I went to the Cherry Hill Mall and to dinner at Bennigan's. I love Bennigan's. I've only been there twice, and I am best friends with their cole slaw. There's a Hall of Heroes at the Cherry Hill Mall (but I am more familiar with the one in the Echelon Mall. New Jersey has a lot of malls, get over it! {g}) and this one had better Sanrio stuff, which I ooh'd and ahh'd at. By better, I mean to say that there are more characters than Hello Kitty. Also at Hall of Heroes, Craig bought a Donkey Kong shirt, and I was jealous and I wanted one, and Nathan bought a Super Mario Bros. shirt, and I was jealous and I wanted one. They had a plush Grr, from Invader Zim that I nearly bought, then I changed my mind. I was thinking of giving it to Someone, but I will not be.
After the shopping and the eating, we got home at about 11:30, then Nathan and I went back out to the Wal-Mart (I would have preferred the KMart, but they weren't open), so he could get oil and an oil filter for his car. It was totally lame, because he didn't know what kind he needed, so he kept running out back and forth to the car to get the manual, to get some other thing, to look at the dipstick, to lick the tire, etc. I stayed inside the whole time and bought boxes, so I can Mail Things. On the way home, we stopped at the party for the hell of it and stayed for about 35 minutes. We got there at 2, and a handful of people were there. We talked to Dorothea and her boyfriend for a bit and left when they did. I didn't see Alyssa at all. Or Patti, come to think of it. Mark didn't go to the party, because he was supposed to be making cookies and decorating the tree with his girlfriend, which sounds really pleasant to me. Supposedly, they called him a little before 2 to ask him to come, and he said no, and he was sleeping or something. Alyssa's friend Danielle said he was "whipped" or something. I found and still find that to be a crazy accusation. Whipped by whom? His biological need to sleep? And who was going to get him, anyway? And when was the last time you got out of bed to go to a party that was pretty much over, but I digress. I'm glad I stopped by; I would have felt bad, if I didn't. But I parties are not my friends, so I'm also glad I stopped by when it wasn't crowded and didn't stay long enough to get depressed.
Sunday Nathan and I went over to my Aunt Marjory's, so my Uncle Tommy could show Nathan how to change his oil, as he said he'd do on Thanksgiving. They did, and I sat in the house and talked to Marji, while she wrote out Christmas cards and to Aunt Marjory and Harry (he goes there practically everyday. Aunt Marjory is his twin sister. Did you know that? Okay.). I even saw Johnny for a minute; I never see Johnny. When I'm at their house, I always feel jealous, because they have four dogs, and I wish I had more dogs. Oh, I forgot to mention that I brought Dewey. He got along really well with all their dogs. I was surpruised. He was nice around Sable, who's a 14-year old doberman who can't walk well, and he played with Ginger who's a labrador. We watched part of Goldmember, which they'd rented, with everybody, then we left.
On the way back to my house, we stopped at my Aunt Tina's, so I could see her kitten. They got her in the summer (well, not "got," since someone had apparently left her near their garage), and I still hadn't seen it yet. She's a pretty little thing with white, gray, and black markings. Her name is Kitty, which is uncreative. Kit is creative. Kitty is not. {g} It had been a long time, since I'd played with a kitten, and I'd forgotten how much I like them.
Then we dropped Dewey off at my house and went to the Hamilton Mall (another mall). Nathan tried to find a new coat, but everything there looked kind of 1970's pimp or something. So we ate in the food court and split. Then we saw the Nutcracker. I liked it well enough. Not the best production I've seen, but it was good and just seeing it is the important part.
Today Nathan went to work then home. I went to Russian class, and my mom and uncle went to the store while I was in class. Then I found that the political science office was locked, and that smelled. We went to Best Buy, but then my mom drove me crazy and we left without buying anything. Then we went to the Deptford Mall (I keep mentioning malls. I have a problem.), so my uncle could get his glasses fixed at Lenscrafters. While he was doing that, my mom and I went into the bookstore, and my mom bought a book for me about the Jersey Devil, right while I was standing there, because she loves to surprise me. :P Then we ate in the food court. I had Chik-Fil-A and an eggroll. My mom had chili fries and an eggroll. Maybe she's pregnant. (Haha, that is impossible for two reasons!). Then we came home, and I was upset because I missed 7th Heaven, which is an embarrassing thing to admit, but then I found out it was only the repeat where Simon became a manstitute.
There. Wooo ah. I must go read now. For real this time.
posted by Beth at 4:39:00 AM
Friday, December 06, 2002
Don't be offended by the new colors.
posted by Beth at 6:29:00 AM
And I have two little stories from last Tuesday's classes. I find them both insane, so I share.
1. In my learning and behaviorism class, a girl was talking about her experiment for rewarding someone with short- and long-term rewards, and if they're too far off, it's no good and all this. Then some girl in my class said that her parents were going to buy her a brand new Mustang, if she could bring home straight A's. Not for graduation. Not for a year, even. For one semester. And she said she couldn't do it, because she didn't care enough. But... but... a new car... couldn't she buckle down for four months, then go back to slacking off after she got the car? And a Mustang is her dream car, and she still didn't care enough? Wah?? And then she said her family was poor. I'm supposing that means A) She has no idea what "poor" means or B) Her parents know that never in a million years will she work hard enough, so they can make all the promises they want.
2. In my magazine article writing class, we had to do a little exercise where we wrote about our Thanksgiving, then shared it with the class. I wrote about how we have a buffet at my house and how I hate it. Anyway, this girl shared her story. Her ultra-Catholic relatives were coming to her house for Thanksgiving. The aunt is nuts, and she thinks Harry Potter is evil and won't allow her two kids to see the movies or read the books. The girl in my class saw the movie, but she didn't want to start trouble, so she wasn't going to mention it. As soon as they sat down at the table, her little brother anounces to everyone that she did see the movie. Then her aunt started screaming at her and saying things like, "You'd better go to confession, right away!" and "You need a priest!" and "You'd better find out what religion you really are!" Craziness!
And one last thing here. For that magazine class, for our final project, due the 18th, I believe, we can write an article about anything we want. I think I want to write another trend story (she really liked my wobblehead article, so thank you for the idea!). This time, I think I might want to write about making friends online or dating someone you meet from online, as I have done both and that's an example of a trend on the rise. I need sources, though, so if you want to share a story or example (good or bad), I'd really appreciate it. But don't ask to read it afterward, because I freak out and get really nervous, if people I know read my work. {g}
posted by Beth at 5:53:00 AM
Of course I slept all day today. I had a lot of crazy dreams, which usually happens, when I'm very much in need of decent sleep. I won't bore you with the details on those, aside from one dream involving some three-day KITH thing that involved newsgroup members, but not the actual KITH. All I know is that there was a lot of running around and I somehow grabbed the magical trophy (shaped like Velma from Scooby-Doo) to help my team win. That was on day one, though, and I had to go home after that, because I didn't have the money to stay. I don't know what that's about aside from me needing more money. I haven't even read the NG in awhile, either.
I want to feel more holidayish, but I don't. Listening to Christmas music helps, but I don't feel like getting out my Box O' Holiday CDs and Cassettes, even though it's about four feet away. I played some holiday music on the clarinet yesterday, which was, like, okay I guess. I like to do that. On Sunday, Nathan and I are seeing the Nutcracker at a college (not mine). Man, I really really love the Nutcracker (I should listen to *that* CD). Nathan's never seen it, I don't think. A lot of people become more bored with that sort of thing than with other things; with things where people sing and whatnot, for instance. It's the only ballet I've ever seen, but I assume I'd enjoy others. I wish our Christmas tree were up. We always put it up late. Always. If it were up to me, it'd be up after my birthday. This year, my uncle is thinking we should get a new tree, a "pencil" tree, which is really narrow, so it takes up less room. I like a wide, full tree better, but it's not my money. Oh, by the way, I'm talking about fake trees here. We always have fake trees. And my mom, who has nothing to do with putting the tree up, thinks we should make do with one of the old ones. But there's either the one that's really too big and the one that's kind of scraggly and bare-looking. Then my mom said she might not make cookies this year. I hope this was a lie. My mom likes to lie to me. I'd go have the last of the grocery store egg nog, if not for the fact that I just brushed my teeth. Non-alcoholic grocery store egg nog is da bomb. For real.
What a poorly organized paragraph that was. Ah well.
posted by Beth at 5:35:00 AM
Thursday, December 05, 2002
Yow. There is no school today, because it's supposed to snow like crazy all day long. And as with all snow reports in our area, we should expect to get between two and one thousand inches, because you know everyone tells you something different.
Anyhow, I'm actually kind of pissed about the school closing, which also applies to my night classes. See, normally this is good, but I had to do a presentation today, I had to hand in a paper, and I had to find someone to interview so I can add to my profile article. Also, for my adolescent development class, we've missed so many already. We missed classes because of Thanksgiving and because she wanted us to see a lecture, and the group projects took up three classes instead of two, and this class meets only weekly. Next week will be our last class before the exam, so this raises a million questions about what's due and when. Bluh.
And there's no sled, so I can't attempt to go sledding for the first time in years. And the only N64 game I have is Pokémon Stadium, which is more fun with two players. Normally snow days equal sleep and videogames, but I'm just irritated right now.
I am such a lame-ass nerd for complaining about a snow day. I am ashamed.
posted by Beth at 7:06:00 AM
Saturday, November 30, 2002
Diesel Sweeties might be the most retarded comic in the universe.
I'm tellin' it.
In fact, I hate it too much to link to it.
posted by Beth at 6:41:00 AM
Friday, November 29, 2002
Hmm, Thanksgiving. It was okay. People came to my house, like always. The food was good, and I didn't hide from people this year. Oh, and I saw Alyssa. She's home from Australia, and she gave me a boomerang. {g}
Tonight, Mark, Nathan, and I went to the movies. We were going to see 8 Crazy Nights or They. We should have seen They. 8 Crazy Nights was HORRIBLE. Do not see it! It was hateful, all the way til the end, when it got depressing. Seriously. I mean, I like Adam Sandler a lot of the time. And I was also hoping for a nice holiday movie, and the kids need more (or some) Hanukkah-related movies. Even so, I still expected it to be bad, and it was worse than I could have thought. The movie picks on two dwarves who have seizures, then at the end, we're supposed to not have laughed at them. You know? Oh, and there are fat jokes, too. Nice. I know that Adam Sandler can often do some mean-spirited stuff (Are his CDs like that more than his movies? I'm not really familiar with the CDs. I like some of the movies and most of the SNL characters), but this is just wrong. Eck. I want to know what more people think about this. And I forgot the most blatant thing in the whole movie—jokes about crap. Greeeeat.
The people in the theater seemed to really like it, unfortunately. A lady and her son who sat in front of us really loved it. There's a part where Adam Sandler calls someone "poopsicle," and they laughed like crazy for nine years. Afterward, when Nathan and Mark were in the bathroom, and I was waiting, she and her kid came out of the theater, and the kid was all, "mooom, the funniest paaart was when the boooooy haaaad to wear a braaaaaa." :P Then, before going into the bathroom, the lady looked at me and asked if I liked it. I said, "I thought it was terrible," and she just kind of muttered, "well, we thought it was funny." But it was almost like she never thought to wonder if it wasn't funny. As in, "could this possibly be a bad movie?" No of course not. Bah. I hate people who think every movie is great. Whatever. Bleah. Grumble. The movie stunk like all the millions of poop jokes in it.
posted by Beth at 2:28:00 AM
What's up frigidaire. You are 23% pickup-able! You're cold and unapproachable, like a big glacier that's unapproachable. And cold. Unlike the Arctic tundra, few even venture to plant their flag in you. You're definitely not a Scorpio, unless you were born between October 23 and November 21. The bad news is that you'll end up miserable and alone, probably knitting doilies out of cat hair. The good news is that this is apparently what you want. Honestly, I don't even feel comfortable talking to you right now, so I'm just gonna go… yeah… wash my friend's hair.
I believe that. Also, the birthday part amused me. {g}
Obviously, this paper isn't quite coming along as it should be.
posted by Beth at 5:29:00 AM
Avril Lavigne is on the AOL Welcome Screen. {snort}
So today really smelled. I needed to make copies of a form for my little experiment/group project for my learning and behaviorism class, so I left for school early and stopped at the public library. The copier didn't accept bills, so I had to find and spend all my change, and I was in such a hurry that it wasn't til I was back in the car, when I realized the tops of all my papers were cut off. I got to Russian extra early, so I had to wait in the hall while the class before mine finished up. While I was out there, I was stuck hearing know-it-all boy talk about how he knows a million languages fluently and how he has a good head for business and how, ever since he was 18, all he does is invest his money, while the other guy talked about how he cheats on his taxes, because "everyone cheats on their taxes." Then class was so-so, except that there was a quiz that I was not prepared for. At least I got out early, so I could rush off to the class I had to give the experiment to. I got there and did it alone. My group partner had another class, and I figured we'd never get anything done, if I didn't at least get the actual experimenting out of the way; that's why I went at all. It sucked. I could never be a teacher. I hate being in front of people and talking to them and asking them to do things. It was dehumanizing, I swear. But they were good about it, although it was obvious they thought what I was asking them to do was obvious and baloney. Then I scurried off, and I could just imagine, upon my exit, hearing the teacher (she teaches that class and my own class), say, "What was the first thing she did wrong?" I still feel like I'm being stared at my about 25 educational psychology students. Garr. So then I got home and learned that my most favorite talk radio people are all on the same radio station, one after the other, in Detroit. And no, I can't listen online. Not only is there no way to, but my crappy connection couldn't handle it. Now I have to write a paper.
At least a long weekend is coming up, I guess. Tomorrow, on the way to school, maybe I'll try to listen to the new guys on the talk station. After all, I got hooked on talk radio three and a half years ago (the day of the Columbine shootings, weirdly enough), when I found Deminski and Doyle talking about it on that same NJ talk station. Then Scott and Casey replaced them, and I thought I wouldn't like them, but I did. Very much. So maybe these guys are good. Detroit smells. How can Deminski and Doyle AND Scott and Casey all be on that same station. Stupid Detroit radio taking away that which I love.
Yes, I am aware that I probably sound crazy.
posted by Beth at 2:53:00 AM
Monday, November 25, 2002
I used to really like these guys, Scott and Casey, who did a show on the New Jersey talk radio station. I mean, I listened to them everyday on the way to and from school. The station was for all of New Jersey, so South Jersey carried it on 97.3 and North Jersey carried it on 101.5, which was the main station. Eventually, 97.3 dropped the broadcast, and while I could sometimes hear them on 101.5, it was really easy to lose the signal, in most places. So today I thought I'd listen to them again, and they were replaced with these two annoying guys. And Eck, it just depresses me. :(
posted by Beth at 10:21:00 PM
Sunday, November 24, 2002
I put a new link there on the right for a guy named Sergio. Sometime last summer, I think, he emailed me to say he found my blog randomly, started reading it, and liked it. Now he has one. I think that's pretty neat. :)
posted by Beth at 5:43:00 AM
Saturday, November 23, 2002
Evidently, there is no such thing as a digital dress watch. And if there is, then why don't you prove me wrong? People are prejudiced against digital watches, that's what they are.
posted by Beth at 3:02:00 AM
Friday, November 22, 2002
The AOL 8.0 (evil!) welcome screen has this little poll feature. Every couple days, they put up a new question and three (badly thought out) options. I cannot help but to always vote, regardless of whether or not I'm familiar of the issues. Tonight, I logged on and saw this:
Should Michael Jackson's kids be taken away from him?
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
I asked my uncle what that was related to, and he said that Michael Jackson held his kid up in the air while standing at the edge of a balcony, so people could see it. It really wasn't a big deal and the media is just bending it out of shape.
I voted no. I'm showing respect to Michael Jackson. There could have at least been a fourth option: yes, but not because of the balcony thing.
Bob Scott just appeared on my buddy list. Or at least the screen name that he said was his like three years ago on the TMBG offtopic list just came online; I've never seen it come on before. I wonder if it's possible for someone to take an old screen name if it's been (seemingly) out of use for a long time. I'd really like to IM him, but I just canNOT allow myself. I mean, I can't even IM people I know really well, unless I have something remotely important to say. I suck.
posted by Beth at 12:28:00 AM
Thursday, November 21, 2002
Last Friday was my birthday, and I'm now 23.
The big plan for the day was to see Tori Amos in Camden, a birthday present from Nathan that I picked out for myself.
For my Magazine Article Writing class, I had to cover an event of some kind, and I kept wussing out, so my final plan of action was to write about this show. We had to talk to someone who worked at the venue, so I called them up. I just had a few simple questions, nothing hard, so I gave them a call before we left the house. They acted like I was insane. I called up, explained that I was writing an article and that I had a few questions. They said they'd try to help.
"I'm going to write an article about tonight's show. Can you answer some questions for me?"
"I can try."
"Can you tell me about how many people you expect to attend the show?"
"Why do you need to know that?"
"Because I'm writing an article..."
"I'll have to connect you with the program director"
Then I got an answering machine. It was as if I was going to bomb the joint or some crap.
I knew I'd never get anywhere on the phone, so we left. On the way, we stopped to buy three tickets for Harry Potter. We got there pretty early. After a lot of wandering around the lobby, I got the nerve together to ask an usher my questions. She was incredibly nice; I'm still really happy that she answered them without acting suspicious of me. Once I got home, I emailed some nicepeople and they answered questions for me, too. :) Then we looked at souvenirs, but they were so expensive. We went in to sit down, and Nathan was blahblahblahing about flag-burning and symbolism for some reason. Then this guy who looked like he could be Kid Rock's less successful brother turned around, looked at Nathan, and said, "What about cross burning? You wouldn't argue about that." or something similar. Then I curled up into a little ball in my seat. I wasn't thrown by the guy's comment as much as I was thrown by the guy all jumping in like that. I nearly bought a tour program off a guy who was walking around, selling them like hot dogs at a baseball game. I argued with myself over the price, then I caved and got out the $20, but he was gone by then.
The show started on time, which was damn nice. Howie Day was alright, but his songs seemed so long.
Before I go on about the rest of the show, I'll say this. I was never a fan of Tori Amos. In fact, I was anti-Tori and kind of really scared of her for whatever reason. I never imagined even being okay with her. Last spring, Colleen made me a mix CD and it had a few Tori Amos songs on it. I was really skeptical at first, but I listened to it. I liked the whole CD, and the Tori songs were pretty good, if not a little weird to me. About a week after I'd first listened to the CD, I was skipping past everything, just to hear the Tori songs. I borrowed Nathan CDs and downloaded things, and I just became really interested. When I found out that she was doing a show nearby, on my birthday of all days, I had to go.
Anyway, Tori came out and played for about two hours and fifteen minutes. This was the longest normal concert I'd ever seen (the only thing longer was the TMBG documentary taping); I like a long show, especially when I can sit down. And it was so great. I was impressed, excited, moved, and happy all at once! It was really awesome, and she played "Bliss," my favorite song, and that was great. I can't wait to see her again, and hopefully this time have better seats. I had been afraid that she'd be facing the other way, and we'd only get to see her back, but it turned out that we were on the right side, after all.
After the show, I went back to look at the merchandise and still could not rationalize paying $30+ for a shirt, but I ended up getting a cute Scarlet's Walk charm necklace for $15. Then Nathan and I left and had a late dinner at a diner.
It was a pretty good birthday. I didn't open my presents til I came home from the show. Among other things, I got a Nintendo 64 (I'm one step behind the Nintendo product-buying world). I still haven't hooked it up, but I think I'm going to do that tonight.
On Saturday, Nathan, Uncle John, and I went to see Harry Potter. I enjoyed it, but I was very tired. I need to see it again, when I'm more awake. As of right now, I think I like the first movie better. Gilderoy Lockhart was awesome, though. And so what if I thought he was cute. {g} I liked all the new casting, but I'm still getting over Lucius Malfoy's hair. Was anybody expecting it to look like that? I mean really.
Then we ate dinner at Friendly's and came home. We were supposed to go out bowling with Craig, but he was sleeping or something like that, when I called, so then I fell asleep. For hours. Then I woke up in the middle of the night and did some homework.
There ya go. I think I'm caught up on all I wanted to be.
posted by Beth at 11:53:00 PM
I feel like talking and no one is around right now, so I'll just blog my ass off.
I had meant to talk about last Thursday, well, last Thursday. I'll do that now.
It was a really busy and school filled day. I will prepare a timeline for you, since I'm bored.
9:30 - I had to get up for school. I've become accustomed to waking up for school at 3:20, so that was kind of hard.
11:00 - Nathan and I arrived at school. I went to see a lecture on how to handle a crisis, like suicide or a hostage situation, for extra credit for my Learning and Behaviorism class. Nathan came, because he drove me, and what else was he gonna do? It was pretty interesting.
12:15 - The lecture ended, and we went to Boston Market for lunch. I learned that Boston Market has very fine cole slaw. I love cole slaw.
1:15 - We went back to school, so that I could go to a meeting with a lady who replaced the lady whose office I worked in under the school work-study program several years ago. The point of the meeting was to check and see that I'd taken all the classes that are required for me to graduate. That was where I found out that I had to take that computer competency exam that I'd never even heard of before that day.
2:15 - Nathan and I had an afternoon to kill, so we decided to see a movie. I checked all the theatres in the area, and our only options were The Santa Clause 2 (evil!) and 8 Mile. We saw 8 Mile. I'd wanted to see it, anyway, and it was pretty good. We missed the first 15 minutes because of my meeting running long and traffic.
4:40 - Nathan took me back to school, then fled the state. Before my class started I went to the learning center-place to pick up a pamphlet on the computer literacy test I had to take.
5:00 - Class
6:30 - Another one.
9:30 - I got home.
Apparently that paper for adolescent development is due in two weeks, not today. Will I rewrite and try to do a better job? Nah.
That class drives me nuts. It isn't particularly difficult or anything, but the teacher is all about the small discussion groups. I guess that's not such a bad idea, but everytime I end up having to share stories with people, NONE of them know where I'm coming from. How is that? In a group of five, I was the only one who had an indulgent parent (as opposed to authoritative, authoritarian, or passive), and some girl thought it was funny that I was 19 years old (gasp!) before I went to New York City alone. How crazy! I was so OLD! She was 17, when she went. So it was like totally nutty that I'd be two years older. Then I tried to explain to everybody, "well, my family lives in South Jersey, and for the most part, we don't go to cities often (nobody really goes to Philadelphia often at all, and that's like 40 minutes away. New York is a little over two hours away), because there's not much there that most of them particularly care about. I like cities, though." and they just looked at me. What? Am I seriously that weird?
A woman in my group is 40, and she said it caused trouble in her family, when she got pregnant, when she was a teenager, and NOBODY BATS AN EYE AT THAT! Blah. Of course they shouldn't have asked her a million questions about it, but I'm weird and she's not?
No one understands me! Nor did they understand that I was not part of a clique nor did I try or care to be. I mean, I always sat by the door at lunch (to make a quick getaway) and sat alone reading a book. Then I'd come home and sit in front of the TV or something like that. Blah. Blah again!
posted by Beth at 11:00:00 PM
For my adolescent development class, I have to write some weirdo thing about an event that occurred during my adolescence that made me change or made me stronger. Well, guess what. I really have no clue what that would be, so I'm talking about how TV motivated me to get good grades in school. That's wacky, but true.
And I took that computer competency exam today. I passed, but I actually didn't do all that great. I did the worst in the Excel section (because well, how the hell often do I use that?) and I rocked the house in the Windows 95 section. I got htere early, but I had to wait for someone to open up the lab (which should have already been open), and after the test, I have to wait while the printer took forever to print my grades. I ended up being 20 minutes late for Russian, but htat's fine, because that class bores my ass off. Through a weird chain of events, I will be borrowing a Russian art book from someone in the class I don't know all that well.
You will live in Shack.
You will drive a black Ford Focus.
You will marry Paul Lynde and have negative 7 kids.
You will be a Miami Dolphins quarterback in Kiev
Wow, that was awesome. {g}
I'm still meaning to talk about last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but I have some lame-o-rama work to do, so I'll keep this short. Tomorrow/today, I have to, get this, take a computer competency exam. I found out about this last Thursday. Basically, I was supposed to have taken it before my first year was over, otherwise, they wouldn't have let me go ahead to my second year, but I somehow slipped throgh the cracks. What I have to do is prove that I can turn on a computer and create a Word file and all that crap. The test is supposed to take about 20 minutes. Wouldn't it be hilarious, if I failed it or something? The little rulebook says that if I fail twice, I have to take a computer literacy course. Wish me luck!! Ho ho.
posted by Beth at 4:07:00 AM
Kit died this morning. I was up all night and I saw her sleeping on a chair in the living room. A couple hours later, I went to look for her and couldn't find her. Harry found her curled up on the heating vent behind the couch. It looked like she just went there to lie down. I'm really sad, but at the same time, I know she'd really been suffering these last couple weeks. She stopped eating the food I gave her a few days ago. I don't know if she was eating the hard catfood or not.
I'll miss her. She was about 16 years old. She was also one of the friendliest cats I ever knew. I had her since I was about six or seven and she liked me best. When we first got her (from my mom's boyfriend's friend), she ran off into the woods. I thought I'd never see her again, but she came back. Ever since then, she was always interested in going outside, even if she had to sneak out, but she always came back. She liked to hunt, and sometimes she'd catch mice or chipmunks or moles. I didn't even know we had moles in our yard, til she started bringing them to us. She even caught a baby rabbit once. She also got into fights sometimes, and it's a miracle, really, that in all her going outside, she was never hit by a car or something. She was really smart. I used to have mice and rats awhile back, and I could put them on the floor in front of her or even on her, and she never tried to catch them. I was always impressed how she knew the difference between mice she could catch and mice that were my pets. And she was really strong in that when she got hurt, she always healed up, and she really didn't slow down much for her age. This past summer, she had a sore on her stomach that we thought might have been cancer or something, but it healed. It took two months, but it still got better. All the while, she still insisted on going outside, even when I didn't want her to. She was really good at sneaking out of the house, so we kind of didn't have too much of a choice. I'd never have an inside and outside cat again, but she was different.
Today, I got the film in my camera developed. I had taken this picture last summer. My other cat does not photograph well.
And this is a picture I just found of Kit from better days. I think this picture is about three years old or so.
Arr, I have a lot to say, but I'm a tired egg. I will say that my birthday started off to be irritating, but then it got better.
I have a cold, though, and that's driving me nuts.
Today is the day for seeing Harry Potter.
posted by Beth at 6:48:00 AM
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Enh, now to do something unusual for me. I'll make a list of only good things for right now.
I am obsessed with Spider Solitaire. In case you don't know, it's a game that comes with Windows XP, and it's like solitaire but with 8 decks of cards. Anyway, I've been playing the game like crazy, and I'm horrible at it. I played like 100 times and could never win. Last night, I somehow won four times.
After what feels like forever, I finally met my Columbia House obligations and bought five CDs at their stupid regular club prices. I can finally cast off the shackles. Actually, right now, I'm listening to a Stereolab CD I got in the mail today. I'm really unfamiliar with Stereolab, but I know lots of people like them, so I thought I'd take a chance and order it.
I got the email from that girl in my psych class. Now I can stop worrying about that.
I don't know why, but I find this exchange from Hollywood Squares is hilarious:
Peter Marshall: Do men or women burn up food faster?
Rose Marie: Oh men, they always burn up everything.
Vincent Price: Now, that is not true!
And more important than all that other crap, I finally found something Kit will eat. See, she won't eat more than a couple bites of catfood a day—we've tried buying her the hard kind that she likes and I bought some of the canned kind, too. But this morning, I gave her a little bit of lunchmeat. It turns out that if I get a little bit of ham—and I do mean a little, about a quarter of a slice of the really thinly cut kind—and tear it up, she'll eat it. Quickly, too. I don't know that she'll get better, but it puts my mind at ease to see her eat a little now and then.
Yup. That was good practice at listmaking or something. {g}
posted by Beth at 3:56:00 AM
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
My test is over, and I'm glad.
I'm in the Mac lab, and I'm not glad. I was making a real effort to be cool with Macs, but on these ones, the resolution is driving me crazy, and I don't know how to change it. Also, these ones don't have AIM anymore. They used to.
The girl in my group talked to me, thankfully. I apparently deleted the email without knowing, and I'm pissed at myself for that. I go through things so fast that anything from someone I don't recognize, I assume is junk. Let's hope I don't and delete it again.
I guess now I'll get to class early and read more of Lemony Snicket til it starts.
posted by Beth at 5:59:00 PM
Monday, November 11, 2002
Hm, I feel I don't have much to say, right now. I don't have school today/Monday, because it's Veteran's Day. Finally, a day off from school on a day when I'd normally have classes; the holidays usually escape me. Friday afternoon, I got some gifts from erin for my birthday, which is this Friday. I was so surprised, I nearly cried. erin is awesome, and not just because of the gifts. :)
Today/Sunday (wow, in one entry, I call today both Sunday and Monday. Put that in your pipe and smoke it) was a complete waste. On Saturday, Nathan, Mark and I went to Toys R Us so I could return the Barbie and GI Joe I used as part of my presentation. I almost feel bad for passing them around then getting all my money back. I've never liked Barbies and was always uninterested in GI Joe. But now GI Joe sort of fascinates me, yet I'm not sure why. After that, we ate at the Palace Diner. I like it very much there, and I hadn't been there in months.
I'm nervous about my test in Learning and Behaviorism on Tuesday. I'm also nervous, because I haven't communicated with that girl whose group I'm supposed to be in (see the post from Halloween). I gave her my number and email address that day, and if she emailed me, I never got it. In class, I kept expecting her to talk to me, and she never did. I know it's bad to assume people will come to me first. Thursday night, I emailed her at her school address. I haven't got an answer yet, but maybe she never checks her school mail. I didn't check mine for years, but now I've set it up to forward everything to my AOL address. Blah, I do not have the courage to ask her about the project. I wish she'd come to me first. Eckeckeck.
I'm looking at my results from the NewsRadio quiz that you should take, if you haven't already done so, even if you have never seen the show. And hey, Vicki Lewis is really pretty. And I am neither homo nor jealous.
Did I really just make a newsgroup joke on my blog? Crazy.
Last night, I dreamt that one of my cats had kittens. I'm not sure which one it was, but I suspect it was the boy cat. I was holding him, and I think I felt something fall out of him. Then I looked down to see four kittens. I put them in a box and took them to Craig's mom but she didn't want any, so I tried to find someone else who'd take at least one. It was bizarre.
posted by Beth at 1:27:00 AM
Oh snap! In my adolescent development class, yesterday, I lent the girl who sat next to me a pen. She left during the break, and I never got it back. I hate when people do that! So maybe it was just a lame Bic stick pen, and you can get ten for a nickel or something, but still. (Yeah, yeah "My pen! My pen!" I'll save you the trouble. {g} I always did identify with that sketch, though.)
Last year, some girl ran off with my mechanical pencil. I use only mechanical pencils for school. The kind with refillable lead and erasers. It was like $4. Damn people.
My presentation is done. I guess it went well, although I started out fine, and by the end, instead of being more relaxed, I started muttering and crap. The girl I worked with must have used the expression "cool beans tacos" three times in three hours. As in "oh wow, that's cool beans tacos!". Now watch me start saying it.
I should try to read some, while I'm still awake, but I think Good Times is coming on. Lately, I am _all_about_ the Good Times. Yesterday's show was about how IQ tests are racist. It was so awesome, and this nerdy guy (who looked like Nathan but with glasses) was trying to prove them wrong, and he had a giant calculator. He was frantically typing numbers in and it blew up. It was so great.
posted by Beth at 6:11:00 AM
Because brown is my favorite color. And it's also autumnal.
When I was outside with the dog earlier, I heard a train whistle, which must have been pretty far away. It's impressive when the wind carries like that.
Wow, I just talked to Alyssa on IM! Alyssa, in case you don't know, is my cousin who went to Australia as an exchange student this past July. She's supposed to come home in December, I believe. I hadn't seen or spoken to her since late June at Mark's grduation party. Just now, we mostly talked about the craziness that's happened in my family that she missed out on, rather than what she's been doing there. So yeah, it was surprising and nice to hear from her. :)
On the other side of the coin, there's this Australian exchange student in my magazine article writing class. She's irritating. All she does is talk about bars (and what a bummer it is that they aren't open til 10am) and the summer when she was 14 and she sold bags of cow manure to people and made a fortune. The men love her. Like moths to a flame, it is, in that classroom.
posted by Beth at 1:10:00 AM
Thursday, November 07, 2002
So I was out getting a milkshake with Dorothea, and my dog, who hates being alone more than anything, lept over a board (we put a board up to divide the kitchen and living room to keep the dogs out of there, as they are wont to cause trouble). So while he was alone, Dewey jumped over it. That's impressive, because 1. I've never seen a dachshund jump the way he does and 2. he had an operation yesterday. My mom heard a boom and a cry and she came down to check on him, and luckily he didn't rip his stitches out. I really hope he gets used to being alone. Gypsy keeps him quiet, when she's up here, but the cats either ignore or tease him. So my answer for keeping him quiet is to get a third dog, but no one here likes that idea.
I have to remember to take some more pictures of him. I'm planning on making some copies of my otherones and sending them to his mommy in Salem County at Christmastime.
posted by Beth at 12:19:00 AM
Oh, now the (not a) Pixie picture is there.
These Halloween colors must go. Perhaps tomorrow.
posted by Beth at 12:14:00 AM
Okay, now that that item of business is out of the way. Dewey is fine. I'm playing with him right now, actually. The only bad part is that he's been jumping off things, before I can put him on the floor, and his stitches will be in for about two weeks. Dropping him off wasn't as sad as I'd expected, either. He was excited to meet the receptionist, and there was a lady in the waiting room with a noisy cat, which distracted him from the scariness of the office. I wasn't there to pick him up at night, but my uncle said Dewey was in a good mood, and he ate some food and he was excited to see the vet's assistant.
I'm irritated because my Russian final is on Friday, December 20th at 12:30. This is retarded, because it's a NIGHT class with a DAY final. I am taking night classes, because I can't get there in the day, so what the hell?
My presentation for adolescent development is tomorrow. I need to call my partner, if she doesn't call first. We didn't spend as much time talking about this together as we did working on it alone, so we need to come up with more crap. This semester is going by faster than any I can remember.
posted by Beth at 8:09:00 PM
Monday, November 04, 2002
Doggie gets neutered tomorrow. I kind of feel bad about it, but then, I kind of don't. I do feel bad, though, whenever he finds a biscuit or chewbone that he hid somewhere, and I have to take it from him, because he can't have food for the rest of tonight. And I have to take the water away at midnight.
posted by Beth at 10:44:00 PM
Sunday, November 03, 2002
For awhile now, I've been worried about my cat, Kit. Last June, the day before Sam died, actually, she had a kind of sore on her lower stomach that broke open. It took about two months for it to heal. You're probably asking why we never took her to the vet. We didn't not only because it cost over $270 for Sam, and he didn't even last five hours at the animal hospital, and because Kit's been years behind on shots and checkups. Not to mention how much stress it would have caused her to actually go there and wait and be looked at. We thought she might have cancer, since it looked like she was never going to heal. But she eventually did. Otherwise, she was fairly normal for the rest of the summer, going out all night and all that. But for the last few weeks, she's been getting really really skinny. She's kind of wasting away, I guess. I've been buying her expensive canned cat food, because I thought she might like that better than the dry kind we normally get. She eats maybe a little bit then turns her nose, so I end up giving the rest to David. She's skinny and she doesn't move around much, but she can still jump on top of the dryer or the hamper, where she likes to lie down. I guess I'm trying to prepare myself for her to go. She's 16 years old or so, and she's lived a good life, and a pretty long life for a cat who's allowed to go outside. David on the other hand, has never been allowed to go outside, so she's seen a lot more than he has. So yeah, I'm worried for my cat, and I really don't know how long she'll last. She's strong, so maybe weeks, but maybe not. I don't know. I love Kit, though. And Sam died exactly 5 months ago today, so the idea of losing two pets that I've had for so long in such a short amount of time really hurts me.
posted by Beth at 2:17:00 AM
Thursday, October 31, 2002
Happy Hallowe'en! :)
Today's not been bad for me. I got my limited edition Scarlet's Walk in the mail today (it's so cool, it's like a little prize pack {g}) and my Schubert for clarinet book that I ordered to put myself over the $25 mark to get free shipping. My behaviorism class went well. I didn't have to talk to the teacher, I just got into this girl's group, and she'll call me and tell me what's she's doing. Then Nathan, Uncle John, and I went to Aunt Marjory's for awhile. Now we're back here, and later Nathan and I will go have a late dinner and watch some movies, like The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street III.
Here's a picture of a monster. I scanned it from a book a long time ago. The book is nearly as old as I am. The picture is torn, so don't be offended by the tape.
posted by Beth at 9:10:00 PM
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
Yow, I have a headache, and surprisingly this one isn't sinus-related.
My Russian midterm was today. Kurt Vonnegut's name was mentioned on the test; it was odd. I am largely unfamiliar with his work, nor do I care to become familiar with it.
Yesterday, I lied to a professor, and I've been feeling bad about it. We have to do an experiment in behaviorism, which sucks a whole lot. If I were smart, I'd've gotten in some, any, group, even though I thought what they were doing was stupid. Instead, I tried to come up with my own idea. Last week, it ended with me telling the prof that I'd try to condition my hamster and get her to come to me when I shine a light or something similar. I don't even know why she'd allow it, since 1. This is supposed to be a group project, and my hamster and I are not going to meet with people do accomplish this, and 2. She didn't want us to use animals. Then I decided that I'd be rotten at teaching my hamster a trick. It just sounds impossible, and I think I'd mess it up. I told her Tuesday I wanted to do something else, and she asked why, and I lied and said my hamster was noncompliant, and she bit me once and it drew blood and blah blah blah. Well, I do think Carmelita would be concompliant, but I'm certainly not afraid of her after being bitten. So I don't feel bad because I lied to the teacher, I feel bad, because I feel like I misrepresented my hamster. That's totally weird, but I feel guilty. Class meets tomorrow, and she's like going to ask the class if anyone wants to work with me, and it'll be embarrassing, and blah. Really, I generally prefer to work alone, but after this is done, we have to give presentations, and I don't want to do mine alone, because we aren't *supposed* to. Bah. Then there's Adolescent Development, which I'm not going to. People are just doing their presentations, and mine and my partner's is next week, so why should I go to school on Halloween? I'm actually very interested in seeing the other presenatations, but I'll see enough next week.
I got the 9th Lemony Snicket today, and I'll begin reading it after I finish The Exorcist. I saw that Target also had Scarlet's Walk, in both the regular and limited edition versions. I should have waited and bought mine there instead of ordering through Amazon. I figured that it'd be impossible to find at the store. I was wrong wrong wrong.
posted by Beth at 11:22:00 PM
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
Oh and grr, I suck. For my magazine article writing class, we have an assignment due November 19th where we have to cover an event of some kind. My intent was to write about the Tori Amos show on my birthday. But to be on the safe side (I have a habit of flaking out and not being able to interview anyone), I told myself that this weekend, I'd take notes on either of the hayrides or the parade and interview some people, as a fallback in case the cocnert doesn't work out. So of course for a number of reasons, I wrote nothing about the hayrides or parade. I must must must force myself to talk to people at the Tori Amos show. Oh please let there be freaky people there who are starved for attention and will talk to me willingly and easily.
Now I am off to bed to continue reading The Exorcist, which, so far, is a real delight.
posted by Beth at 5:36:00 AM
Let me get this out of the way before I talk about my weekend.
The people in my Russian class are idiots!! GRAAAHHHHHH!
We had this homework assignment where he gave us a paragraph in Russian, and we had to translate it and write it out in English. So today, he was reading the English aloud, and it was something like this. "This girl hates American radio. All her girlfriends love NSync and Britney Spears, but she listens to Canadian folk music—"
So someone interrupts, and says, "There is Canadian folk music?"
"Who plays Canadian folk music?"
"I don't know, you mean like They Might Be Giants?"
"They Might Be Giants are Canadian?"
"There is Canadian folk music?"
"Yeah, like Alanis Morissette."
RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! I can't even begin to point out what's wrong with that exchange. PEOPLE ARE RETARDED! sdihjfowuiejkjockhaodhf wuier killmurderstabshootstrangle
So anyway... Friday, was really uneventful. I thought Nathan and I were going to see 13th Child, but Nathan fell asleep right away, and I did homework and fell asleep early myself. I still haven't seen it, but I heard that the New Jerseyans are all old hicks, sex-crazed teenagers, and know-it-all investigators. An article in the paper said so, and it was really badly received, especially by people who know anything about the Jersey Devil. The trouble is, the majority of horror movies have stock characters like that, so I don't think it was some attempt to pick on people from the area. Interestingly, the writer talked to a girl who set up a webpage about the Jersey Devil, and they mentioned it; what's kind of neat about that is that I bookmarked the page the day before I read the link in the paper.
On Saturday, Nathan, Mark and I went to see the Halloween parade in town. I'd actually never seen it before. It was kind of low-key, I suppose. TV has made me think that every parade everywhere has rows upon rows of people pushed up against those little waist-high barricade things. There wasn't much to see, and Mark left us to go meet his girlfriend afterward. Oh hey, but I got a blue democrat balloon, Nathan got a democrat baseball cap, and I also got a piece of gum someone threw off a float as well as a pretty flower. People from a local florist were handing out flowers to all the ladies. (Heh, I call myself a lady.) The flower and perhaps the gum were the only things I cared to receive, although I tied the balloonstring to my purse and made Nathan wear the hat. After that, Nathan and I went to Medford for a hayride, because Beth digs the hayrides, and my whole Halloween is wrecked, if I don't go on at least one. It was at a Christmas tree farm, and it was pretty good, though it tried to be funny about as much as it tried to be scary. Nathan bought me a green glowstick and an orange and black pinwheel. I like objects. {g}
Sunday, Nathan, Mark, and I went to the Deptford Mall, so Nathan could get tickets for Frank Black in Philadelphia. I'd go but it's on a Thursday and I'm afraid to miss another class. We got there at 4:35, and the jerky people said they stopped selling them at 4:30. Ticketbastard, indeed. We walked around, and bought candy and fancy drinks at a coffee place. Then we ate at a Pizza Hut. I didn't even know there was a Pizza Hut in Deptford. Then we went on another hayride in Bellmawr. My hat goes off to Nathan for getting to the hayrides in Medford and Bellmawr without a hitch. Anyway, this one cost half as much, and we spent like an hour and 20 minutes in line. My hat goes off to Mark for being able to scream about the monsters in public and not feel embarrassed or look ridiculous. The hayride itself was about 15 minutes long, then we had to get out and walk, which I did not know about beforehand. There was a scary-type path on the way to the "funhouse." I guess I didn't read that article from the Courier Post very carefully. And by "Funhouse" they mean a house where you stumble around through near and complete darkness and almost trip over things. None of it was scary, of course. I had fun as I always do on such things. The scariness was me thinking I'd trip and fall getting off the rickety cart, and walking through the "quicksand" on the path, and the suspension bridge on the path, and in the dark in the funhouse, and across the rickety board in the funhouse, and down the ramp in the complete darkness of the funhouse. I swear, it was something a normal amusement park would never put up, for fear of being sued. I guess the Bellmawr Ecological Center is more gutsy in that respect. (An aside, I've been through a couple mirror mazes and regular mazes, and perhaps a haunted house or two, but I'd never knowingly go into a funhouse. Just because. I remember Dorothea and I refusing to go into one in Wildwood once, and as far as I know, she's probably the only person I know who knows what I mean, when I say I don't like the idea.) After that, we tried seeing a movie, but the midnight movie is dead, in our area, apparently. The movies in Deptford were completely closed, and there were some late-ish showings in Cross Keys (where I heard some guy, who was cleaning up, got shot in the head a couple times last week, and it was 1am and he had to walk to the Wal-Mart to get help, but he lived. Yikes.), but I cannot rationalize paying $8 for something that would only cost me $5.50 somewhere else. So we just went home.
I guess it was Wes Craven weekend or some crap, because I showed Nathan The People Under the Stairs (a rather weird movie that gets cornier as I get older) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (a movie that makes me all happy and comfortable and junk). I have this idea that there are movies that everyone should see, because *I* like them, and since Nathan is usually around, I force him to watch most of 'em.
Tonight after my class full of RIDICULOUSLY STUPID PEOPLE, I went to Party City to try to find a costume, and everything was sold out or not in my size (Incidentally, Marilyn Monroe would not have fit into the Marilyn Monroe costume.), so I don't know what I want to do yet. I do know, however, that wearing the same costume more than twice is square.
Man, I sure had a lot more to say than I thought. And it was pretty heavy in both local references and italics.
posted by Beth at 5:16:00 AM
Friday, October 25, 2002
I feel kind of weird for pointing this out. Tonight, I was going through old Halloween and quasi-Halloween tapes, and I was looking for that episode of SNL that Christian Slater hosted, because it had a few Halloween sketches in it. Anyway, that tape also had The Hunt For Red October on it, which I taped when one of the big networks aired it (not to mention Elvira Mistress of the Dark, but you shut up, because I like Elvira {g}). So I thought I'd watch the first couple minutes of The Hunt For Red October, because I remembered it being in Russian and the title being in Russian letters, and I wanted to see if any would sound familiar or whathaveyou. So when it got to the title in Russian letters, I got a good look at it. Well I don't know how this got by, but they use letters that aren't Russian. Well, "red" is correct, but in "October," there's a letter that looks like an "I" and there is no such letter in the Russian alphabet. So there's an "ia" when there should be that backwards R. Also at the end of the word is a forward R, which also is not a Russian letter, because the Russian R sound looks like a "P". Now, I know Ukrainian has a few different letters and so do other slavic alphabets. For example, if you see an I with two dots over it, you can know it's Ukrainian. I just find it weird that no one fixed this, then some lame-ass like me notices it. Strange.
posted by Beth at 8:35:00 AM
Thursday, October 24, 2002
Ha ha, I saw The Ring tonight, and I really, really liked. It does leave me with a few questions, though.
posted by Beth at 12:19:00 AM
Monday, October 21, 2002
There was a Ben Folds concert on that Comcast Music Choice channel tonight. Lucky for me, I was watching the Brady Bunch on TV Land at 9 to find out about the concert which came on at 10. At first, I was sure it was going to be exactly the same as the live DVD. Parts of it were (Tiny Dancer, Song for the Dumped, Philosophy), but others weren't (Zak and Sara, Annie Waits, Gone). I'm glad I didn't stop taping it and watch something else, like I very nearly did. Ben is so great; he has kind of a happy but sad thing going on, for me, anyway. Today was a big, lousy waste, aside from that.
Oh, I forgot to point out a little something about yesterday. Marji's husband Ronnie doesn't ride rides. At all. So it's kind of weird of him wanting to go to a big theme park. He's all about playing games, though. He won Marji four things, including a giant shark, which was taller than any us and big enough around that it was hard to hold onto. It barely fit into Marji's little car, so we had to put the tail in between the front seats and the head all the way into the back almost touching the back window. I have no idea how Ronnie could see to drive. It was weird.
I wish that there was a place near enough for me to walk to, where I could get a parttime job. I'm not counting the bar or the adult bookstore.
posted by Beth at 2:51:00 AM
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Stuff.
1. Nathan and I saw Ben Folds Friday night. Ben is amazing. Ben Lee opened, and he wasn't bad, but when my feet hurt, getting interested in new people is harder than usual. But wow, Ben Folds, and this time, though not too close, we were actually able to see Ben, because the supertall people weren't right in front of us. Yessir, I like the Ben Folds.
2. Saturday night/yesterday/earlier Nathan and I went with Marji and Ronnie to Great Adventure like we were going to do last week, but it rained and Marji and I were sick. It was awfully crowded and we got there really late, so Nathan and I got to ride only five rides, and not the five best rides, either. Oh well, next year, we'll get there earlier and crap. Afterward, I think I had the best Taco Bell food in the universe.
3. It seems that I missed a local TMBG show, and the sun still came up and the world is still here.
4. I only just found out about this 13th Child movie, but I'm all excited about it. I remember hearing a little something about it being filmed in the area, sometime ago, but I'd forgotten. I haven't even seen any trailers, yet; on the carride home, we heard a commercial, and it intrigued me. I hope it isn't cheesy. I mean, I adore local folklore and it's my area and woo and wee! It opens on Friday, so I must go see it next weekend.
posted by Beth at 8:17:00 AM
Thursday, October 17, 2002
I meant to blog this last night. After my Russian class, my uncle and I had dinner at Friendly's. Our booth was right next to one containing some kind of contestant from the World's Worst Dad Contest or some crap. He had two little kids with him, and he was trying to make small talk with his kindergarten-age kids or something. So he said, "Do you want to be on TV?"
"No."
"You don't want to do commercials?"
"No."
"Not even for Hot Wheels and toys and stuff?"
"No."
"But Natasha does commercials. Don't you want to do commercials?"
"No."
Like who is he? The dad from Magnolia? It was so creepy, him trying to force his kids to want to be on TV so he could make money and all that crap. And the way he was talking to him, it was like he didn't even freaking know them—his own kids! "Do you like ice cream, Grant? Ew, you like mint ice cream? I don't. That's a stupid question anyway, 'who likes ice cream?' Everybody likes ice cream."
Last Christmas, someone gave me a pack of stuff containing a little bag, lotion, bodywash, a puff for the bodywash and a candle. Most of that stuff is long gone, but I'm just now starting to burn the candle. It's called "romance," but it's kind of stinky and smells like Play-Doh. Yet I burn it anyway.
posted by Beth at 7:41:00 AM
Monday, October 14, 2002
WATER OF AIR. You're aloof, depressed and seasoned. You'd make a good psychologist, executioner, black widow, arsenic poisoner, heretic queen or commentator. You're too witty for your own good. Have to get up early in the morny morn to fool you, as you spot lies a mile away. And WOE TO THOSE who dare attempt such a stupid move. You're Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, when she cuts Michael's head off. You're Anne Robinson, the host of The Weakest Link!
Hey, I *would* be good at those jobs. And I do like Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, but I do not act like her. I'm no Ann Robinson, though.
posted by Beth at 8:04:00 PM
Saturday, October 12, 2002
Okay, it's not very good-looking, I know. I'm not color-minded.
Tonight, I had to go to the mall to ask wobblehead vendors about them. The Hall of Heroes place that usually had them didn't have any, this time. I didn't really look very hard, as I was distracted by the Sanrio stuff (they had a big sweater that looks like erin's Chococat shirt, but it's a sweater. It's so great and...brown!" {g}), so maybe they did have some. I ended up going into a sports collectibles store and the guy there was helpful and nice, but I'm such a loser. Gah. I didn't write the questions down beforehand or anything, so of course I got the stage fright and mumbled a couple quick questions, and he provided answers, then I ran away and wrote what I remembered, rather than writing while he was talking. I'm such a spaz in those situations. I have crazy social anxiety problems. A bunch of online wobblehead collectors have been answering my questions, and they're all really nice about it, too. Trouble is, they all collect sports types, and I wanted to talk to a more varied group. It's okay, though.
Last night, I downloaded "Plantman" by Gary Young. That song is the greatest. A long time ago, Dorothea and I saw the video on Beavis and Butthead and became mildly obsessed with it; we could never find the album, Hospital, at the store, though, so we never bought it. I've been told that a Sonic Youth person is in the video. I think it's the drummer, and I think he's dressed up as a flower. Man, it's such a neat song. {g}
Oh oh, and one more thing—my uncle gets Interview magazine and tonight he showed me an Aimee Mann interview by, of all people, Janeane Garofalo. I must clip it and read it.
posted by Beth at 11:46:00 PM
Oh yikes, yesterday, I saw the most disturbing episode of Good Times ever. I haven't even seen that many episodes of Good Times in the first place, but this takes the cake of weirdness. I missed the beginning. When I came in, there was this boy at their apartment, and everybody thought he was slow. He didn't answer people, and they thought he was in his own little world or something. But then they see that he can draw, and he kicks the son (not J.J)'s ass at checkers. ("There are only three things in this world that will never happen. You'll never walk on water. You'll never outsmile smile Donnie and Marie. And you'll never beat my son at checkers.") Then the mom, her name is Florida, right? She notices that the boy isn't slow, he's just hard of hearing. He can read lips, so he only answers people when he's looking and whatever. Then the boy's mom comes to bring him home, and Florida tells her what the deal is. She says no, and they're going to send him to a special school and all this crap. His mom tries to prove he can hear. So she gets him to turn around, then she calls his name and he answers, and Florida was all, "yeah, because you YELLED at him." Then it turns into this huge "don't tell me how to parent" argument. While they're bickering, the boy says he's leaving, and the mom just sends him off, not really paying attention. Oh, I should mention that the elevator is out, and they live on the 70th floor or something. So after some more arguing, they realize he isn't there, and they go to stop him from trying to use the elevator. Everybody runs to the hallway screaming his name. The elevator door opens, he turns around to greet them, they're screaming, he thinks they're seeing him off, he backs into the elevator, he falls, the credits roll.
Yikes. That was so weird and scary, and what the hell?
(And I won't ask how, if he can hear his mother, when she yells, he can't hear five people yelling.)
posted by Beth at 7:47:00 AM
Friday, October 11, 2002
ACK! I was a stupid loser, so I downloaded AOL 8.0, and it sucks worse than ever. So many wastey things, like different color backgrounds and purple smileys and animal smileys. And yet I can't use these >'s to quote my email. I still have no option to stop the HTML quoting that non-AOL people can't even see right. Feh.
And I went to Mark's house tonight, and it's a really nice place.
posted by Beth at 4:33:00 AM
Thursday, October 10, 2002
I have a really hard test tomorrow. I'm very worried about it, and I haven't started to study yet. Instead, I keep thinking about how ridiculous that new Justin Timberlake video is. What's with the dancing at 7-11? And what's with the dirty rap in the middle that has nothing to do with the dorky rest? And what's with the way he, er, talks and stares at the camera? And what's with him saying, "drums"?
This isn't a new reaction, I'm still just not getting it, after a couple weeks. {g}
And not that it matters or anything, but that song smells more than any N*Sync song I have ever heard in my life, and I am no fan of N*Sync. There. I said it. {g}
posted by Beth at 2:55:00 AM
Monday, October 07, 2002
Hmm, I haven't blogged in what feels like a long time, so let's see what I'm up to.
Last Thursday, I crawled out of bed to order tickets for the Tori Amos show in New Jersey next month. I'm still pretty surprised that I'm going to go to a show of hers. And of all days, it happens to be on my birthday. But the Internet presale on TicketMaster kills me. I forgot how much I hate the reloading and the trying again for something better. And this time, TicketMaster's site was being temperamental. This was also the first time I had to enter a password. I had the email with the password in it, but I didn't realize that, so I lost a few minutes' time. I ended up with row N in the orchestra. I really hope that's good. And I'm on the side, so I hope she gets up and stuff, so I don't just see her back the whole time. And to make the zillionth ever complaint about TicketMaster, and the most obvious one—it kills me how two tickets valued at $80 cost $100. Well, it's my birthday. I hope that's a valid excuse.
I now have a new nightly ritual of taking care of my pets' health. Everynight, I make my rounds around the house. I brush Dewey's teeth (something I wish I did with Sam, because he was just so tolerant, and his teeth did get kind of bad) with special enzymatic toothpaste. He's getting to be very good at that. Then I give each cat a one-a-day vitamin; I'm very glad that they think they taste good, since the damn things are bigger than a Rolaid and I could never get them to force down that many broken up pieces of it. Then I give Carmelita a treat. I'm kind of thinking I should brush Gypsy's teeth, but I don't want to do it in the morning, when no one else is home. I can't do it while Harry's home or Gypsy will bite me. She's only really good to me, when Harry isn't around.
I feel bad about missing Neko Case in Philadelphia last Tuesday, but I was too afraid to miss class.
I have a sore throat which developed about two days ago. It's doesn't hurt a lot, but it's kind of a nagging irritation. I hope I'm not getting sick. I'm going to have to bring a bunch of hard candies to school tomorrow.
I feel wracked with guilt in that I will not be seeing TMBG in Philadelphia next weekend. They rarely play Philadelphia, and I've seen them only once this year, but there are so many other expenses, like Ben Folds who will be at the very same venue the day before TMBG will. This TMBG show is costing $25 (kind of a lot), and it's also a McSweeney's show, something I don't really care about. I can rationalize my ass off, but I just have weird feelings about missing Them. I haven't missed 'em in over three years. Bleah.
Speaking of said expenses, this Friday, Nathan and I are supposed to be going to Great Adventure (or Six Flags, if you will). My cousin Marji and her husband Ronny are supposed to meet us there, and there's a small chance that Dorothea and John will come, too, which would be neat. But man, the park apparently did away with their "50% off after 5pm" policy, meaning that we could stay from 5-11 and pay $50 apiece. I've been looking for good coupons; I found some $10 off ones, but that isn't good enough, no sirree. Marji found some that say "$10 off" on the front, and the back lists dates as far as November 3rd, as well as say, "50% off after 4pm." I have every reason to think they'll be valid, yet I have this fear of getting to the gate and being told, "we can't accept this." I agonize over worries like that.
I hope I can write my trend paper about wobbleheads. I hope there's enough to say and research available. It would be a cool thing to pursue, and I don't have any second choices, anyway.
Last weekend, I found a tape with a Halloween episodes of Martin and Family Matters on it. Now I see that I have not one but TWO Halloween episodes of Family Matters on tape. You are jealous. Now if I can only find that episode of Drexel's Class...
I think I'm going to force myself to change these colors by the end of the weekend.
Oh oh, and today, I got a postcard with Miss Dolly Parton on it in the mail from Colleen. :D
Whoa, sarah left the 100th comment. She deserves a scented candle (or some rap music) or something. Well, I can't afford that, right now. {g}
posted by Beth at 3:19:00 AM
Tuesday, October 01, 2002
Oh, and dig this. For that same class mentioned below, one of our books is a collection of light articles from the Wall Street Journal. The ones we've read so far have been pretty interesting. Today we were discussing an article from the past week's reading about a trend where more and more guys in their 20s are moving back in with their parents and more girls of that age are moving out. The article was from 1997. I thought it was really cool, and I can think of a lot of people who still live at home. According to the article, the guys are doing it mostly because their moms are willing to do their laundy, the rent is cheap, there's food, and they can use extra money to buy whatever toys and cars they want. The girls aren't staying at home because they're more likely to be nagged and would feel less comfortable bringing a guy over, so they lived in cramped apartmenes with very little cool stuff..
Anyway, in class, a bunch of kids were saying, "yeah, that's me." And the Aussie girl was saying, "that's my boyfriend, and I wish it weren't." And I was thinking, "haha, that rocks," because, while I admire everybody who can get out and live on their own, I value my toys and junk more than I value my own independence. But this one lady who was in her early 40s and who had a 21 year old daughter was downright offended. It was crazy. She was acting like it was so disgraceful that some 27 year old guy was living with his mom, because he'd rather save up for a cool car. She said something about how it was disrespectful or something, and her son had "better be" out of hte house by the time he was out of college. I dunno, I was just wowed by her anger toward the whole thing.
posted by Beth at 11:43:00 PM
