This 3-day weekend just past wasn't as relaxing as it could have been, and I'm not sure why. I did all the stuff one would usually do to relax (I drank, I slept, I saw a movie,) but for some reason it just didn't click and now I feel like I should take the rest of the week off too.
Saturday morning Tim and I went to help Karen move some china cabinets from her aunts house to her parents house. Barbara brought her Suburban and Tim, Karen's dad, and I hauled these cumbersome wood-and-glass boxes down some stairs and into the SUV. When we were unloading the heavy one we failed to notice that the rear gate of Barbara's Suburban wasn't straight on top (due to one of those center brake lights,) and this put a lot of pressure on the cabinet, breaking the mirror set in the back. Luckily it looks like it will be easy to replace. After this, Karen, Barbara, Tim and I went to Le Madeleine for lunch, then Tim and I drove back to the place in Laurel, picked up Kevin, and headed up to Baltimore to pick up Nina and go to the Baltimore Zoo. This was the second Brew at the Zoo I've been to, and the first trip was much more successful. I was worried that the weather would be bad, but we lucked out there. Unfortunately we got there a little late, so a lot of booths ran out of their beers before we could try them. This wouldn't have bothered me so much if we hadn't been waiting in line at two of these places when they ran out. We all came back to Laurel to hang out, and on the way there we saw Parker coming home from work. She honked, we flipped her off, then she somehow passed us. I blame Tim's driving. The five of us (Parker included) went to Olive Garden for dinner, then hung out at the house for a while before I drove Nina home.
Sunday I went to the gym, then took a nap. This somehow took up most of the day. At around 9 we headed up to Nina's for a party she was having. Now, I'm not saying the party sucked (because it didn't, really,) but for a while thefacebook.com and Nina's computer were jointly the most popular person there. Parker drank too much and passed out on the futon (at least she didn't vomit) and Tim dragged me out of there before I could make a huge mistake. I must learn to limit my alcohol consumption when I'm around former girlfriends.
Monday I went to the gym, then went to my parents for the afternoon to see my family and eat dinner. Jeremy and I talked Becky into coming out to see Star Wars III instead of working on her resume (res-um-AY, res-um-AY, it still sounds weird.) I wasn't impressed with the film. Sure, the graphics were cool, and Yoda and R2-D2 kicked ass, but the dialogue was horrible, and in the last 10 minutes of the movie it appears that they lost all the futuristic looking technology from episodes I, II and most of III, and decided instead to go with 1960s style British military uniforms and huge rectangular plastic buttons. I guess maybe the retro look was coming back into style.
So that's that. Maybe it sounds like a fun weekend, and maybe it actually was and I just had too much on my mind to appreciate that, but for whatever reason today feels like a Friday, or a Thursday at the earliest. Tonight I get to go to this Boxing club, so I guess I'll figure out if it's something I want to do all summer.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Thursday, May 26, 2005
New house
We've all moved in to the new place in Laurel. I've been sleeping in the guest room since my room had no bed, but my bed was delivered yesterday and I am quite happy with it. We're still in the process of unpacking our shit and figuring out where to put our various pieces of furniture, so the place is still in a state of disarray. Once the place is cleaned up and we're ready to trash the place again we'll have some sort of house warming party, probably in mid June. This will probably be the venue my brother and I use to decide who is stronger and, therefore, a better person.
On another note, Becky is living at home this summer, so I'll actually get to hang out with my sister from time to time. This is nice now that we get along; when we were teenagers I would have sold my left nut to get her out of state for a couple months. My whole family has the same insensitive, dark, sarcastic sense of humor now, so we all have been getting along quite well.
I've been talking to some people about going to grad school for meteorology and the general consensus is that I shouldn't go to UMD since their program has gone down the tubes, and should look to either Florida or California. Florida has the National Hurricane Center, which I think would be fun to work with, so that will probably be my first choice. I just signed on for another year at the department of astronomy so this is still another year off, and I may still decide to do linguistics instead; I'm having trouble deciding.
Man, I am not feeling this post. I guess that means I should stop wasting your time.
On another note, Becky is living at home this summer, so I'll actually get to hang out with my sister from time to time. This is nice now that we get along; when we were teenagers I would have sold my left nut to get her out of state for a couple months. My whole family has the same insensitive, dark, sarcastic sense of humor now, so we all have been getting along quite well.
I've been talking to some people about going to grad school for meteorology and the general consensus is that I shouldn't go to UMD since their program has gone down the tubes, and should look to either Florida or California. Florida has the National Hurricane Center, which I think would be fun to work with, so that will probably be my first choice. I just signed on for another year at the department of astronomy so this is still another year off, and I may still decide to do linguistics instead; I'm having trouble deciding.
Man, I am not feeling this post. I guess that means I should stop wasting your time.
Monday, May 16, 2005
hit me
Friday afternoon after work I decided to go for a bike ride to prepare for a longer bike ride on Saturday. I rode on this trail I ran on a week or so ago when I was looking for the pullup bars I was told were on the trail. When I ran, I stopped just a little past Paint Branch Parkway, turned around, and ran back up Route 201. Had I gone a quarter mile further, I would have found what I was looking for. When I rode, however, I went way past that. I think I did about 15 miles all in all, stopping at the pullup bars and dip bars to mix things up. This was all, however, a poor decision because the next morning I was riding 31 miles for the American Diabetic Association and my legs could have used a day off. Either way, I finished the ride on Saturday with little soreness and got a free lunch from Outback Steakhouse. By free, I mean free once I paid $40 to register. I also got a water bottle and a star-shaped cookie cutter. What a weird goodie bag.
After the ride, Tim and Parker and I went back to Parkers place to shower, and Paul came up and we all went out to Frederick for the Maryland Brewers Festival. I don't know much about Frederick, but apparently there are a lot of hicks there. The beer was good, it rained a little but not so much that we couldn't enjoy ourselves, and I got a t-shirt from the DuClaw brewing company that says "drink naked" on the front. I thought Hey, what a novel idea: A shirt that advertises something you cannot do while wearing the shirt. How dumb, but apparently they brew a beer called Naked Fish, and the back of the shirt explains it all, thus destroying an otherwise ironic joke.
After that we came back down to the house in College park for a BBQ (I took a small detour to pick up Jeremy). It was raining, but we did it anyway, and a modest number of people showed up. This was good, because I really didn't want to deal with a ton of people in my house. I was tired, sore, and had already gotten drunk once that day. I was in no mood to party, and went to bed shortly after midnight.
Sunday I got up early: 9:00. I wasn't even aware that Sunday had nine o'clock in the ante meridiem. I drove Jeremy back home and we had breakfast with dad. Eggs I think. Then Jeremy and I went out to Seven Locks (near where 495 hits River Road) to pick up his uniform for his lifeguarding job this summer. I dropped him off at home, went to swim and lift weights. The last couple times I've gone to the gym I've run into Katrina, whom I know from S.S.D.P., and have been talking about joining the boxing club at Maryland (of which she is a member.) Fortunately she says the club doesn't have permission from the school to spar yet, so I won't get my ass beat quite yet. Still, I would like to learn how to throw a punch. After working out I went back and we went to Ricciuti's for dinner, then I came home and did laundry. That's right, I'm ending a blog entry with laundry. Deal with it.
After the ride, Tim and Parker and I went back to Parkers place to shower, and Paul came up and we all went out to Frederick for the Maryland Brewers Festival. I don't know much about Frederick, but apparently there are a lot of hicks there. The beer was good, it rained a little but not so much that we couldn't enjoy ourselves, and I got a t-shirt from the DuClaw brewing company that says "drink naked" on the front. I thought Hey, what a novel idea: A shirt that advertises something you cannot do while wearing the shirt. How dumb, but apparently they brew a beer called Naked Fish, and the back of the shirt explains it all, thus destroying an otherwise ironic joke.
After that we came back down to the house in College park for a BBQ (I took a small detour to pick up Jeremy). It was raining, but we did it anyway, and a modest number of people showed up. This was good, because I really didn't want to deal with a ton of people in my house. I was tired, sore, and had already gotten drunk once that day. I was in no mood to party, and went to bed shortly after midnight.
Sunday I got up early: 9:00. I wasn't even aware that Sunday had nine o'clock in the ante meridiem. I drove Jeremy back home and we had breakfast with dad. Eggs I think. Then Jeremy and I went out to Seven Locks (near where 495 hits River Road) to pick up his uniform for his lifeguarding job this summer. I dropped him off at home, went to swim and lift weights. The last couple times I've gone to the gym I've run into Katrina, whom I know from S.S.D.P., and have been talking about joining the boxing club at Maryland (of which she is a member.) Fortunately she says the club doesn't have permission from the school to spar yet, so I won't get my ass beat quite yet. Still, I would like to learn how to throw a punch. After working out I went back and we went to Ricciuti's for dinner, then I came home and did laundry. That's right, I'm ending a blog entry with laundry. Deal with it.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Lying is fun
So we're having a BBQ on Saturday. Ben, Anna, whoever else reads this: you should all come. I know I said our last party would be the last, but either I was lying then, or am lying now, or some third thing, probably involving quantum mechanics. I'm not sure when this shindig will be, but it should be early evening/late afternoon. I'll post a time once I know it. Show up early and enter the drawing for a free BBQ 2005 t-shirt. Offer void where applicable.
This is why I need to post more often...
So it's been a while since my last post, and this has come to bite me in the ass since I have a lot to write about. I'll go chronologically because it beats alphabetically or longitudinally. Prepare yourselves for a Kaylaesque post.
Two weekends ago I went home and did some construction for the garden my brother and I are building for my mom for mothers day. Our back yard is a big hill, and the southwest corner was just dirt. No grass, no nothing. So we build some retaining walls out of railroad ties so we could create a stepped garden. Not having dirt or mulch to put in, however, meant we had to stop there.
Last Friday I went to Art Attack but missed the Gin Blossoms. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not, but Chevelle was better than I thought they would be and Guster was, if nothing else, better than that Bruce Willis CD I have. During Chevelle Tim and I hoisted Paul up to crowd surf after telling him that he should give us his glasses. He didn't, and he lost them. Luckily someone found them and held them up, and Tim saw that and got them back. Tim was the next to go up and had the foresight to give me all his crap first. I was the last to go up, and made it all the way to (and over) the front fence keeping the crowd a few feet back from the stage. Along the way I crossed paths with some girl who was also crowd surfing and she got dumped in my lap. We were carried as one big mass for a while, which was kindof weird. There were also some mosh pits breaking out, which was fun because I like to shove people.
Saturday there was a toga party, and rather than just don a bed sheet I did a little research and figured out how much fabric I would need to do it right. Turns out I needed a piece 18 feet (roughly 3x my height) by 4 or 5 feet, so I went out to the fabric store to get some. Paul came along because he didn't think he had a white bed sheet, but decided to just get 1.5x his height. Why he did that, I don't know; I told him he wanted three times his height but he didn't seem to think I was right. I also picked up 18 feet for Tim. I'm glad I didn't get less than I did, since when I was putting on my toga I had just enough to do it right. Paul was having some trouble putting his on, and when Tim got back he got his on fine. Parker did the whole bed-sheet thing. We got to the party (with the obligatory 40oz bottles of malt liquor) and there were so many red-necks, republicans, military personnel, and die-hard Christians that I had to finish my bottle quick and start a new one, or I wasn't going to be able to have a good time. I still got into a lot of arguments, but at least I was drunk. I lost my drivers license and the $20 bill it was wrapped in, but some nice person found them and returned both. We stumbled back to the house at around 5 and I went to sleep.
Sunday morning I got a call around 10am from my mom asking if I was coming home for breakfast, so I got up, took a shower, and headed home. When I got there my Dad's car was gone, and when I asked where he was my mom told me that he went up to New Jersey because my grandfather was having health trouble again. He had died earlier that morning. I was fairly close with all my grandparents, especially my dads parents (since not only would we see them when we went up to New Jersey where all my grandparents lived, but they would also came down to visit; my moms parents, on the other hand, didn't travel very much) and this all happened so fast that I didn't really know how to react. So my brother and I went to work in the backyard (after all, it still was mother's day) wheelbarrowing mulch and dirt from the huge piles on our driveway to the garden in the backyard, and trimmed some trees in our backyard. I think neither of us really shows our emotions that much, and we were keeping busy, so we didn't end up talking much about it. I think my dad took it pretty hard, and my sister took it even worse.
Monday, after work, I packed my bags and headed home. My sister had driven up from school in Virginia that afternoon, and she and my brother and I were driving up to NJ Tuesday morning. We got to my grandparents house early afternoon and got to visit with our cousins from California whom we rarely get to see. The service was later that afternoon, and a lot of people came, both family and those people who aren't blood related but may as well be. During the service my grandfathers business partner spoke, as did all three of his sons. I was surprised to hear my Dad talk about the McCarthy hearings; my grandfather was discharged from the military as a result of his investigations and wasn't reinstated, despite not actually *being* a communist. I think I understand my families political opinions a lot better now. After the service most of us went back to my grandparents house. It was nice to see so many people I rarely get to see, I just wish it was under better circumstances. I had a nice long conversation with my grandfather's friend Jack Okun about working out. This guy is almost 90 years old and is partially paralyzed from having polio as a child, but he has got to have the best outlook on life out of anybody I know. He's starting to get movement back in his leg which has been more or less dead for most of his life, and I think hearing him talk about lifting weights, considering his age and history, is going to help me keep exercising after my brother and I have this brawl in a month or so. So far I have just been exercising so that I don't wind up getting beat up by my him.
Wednesday afternoon I drive back with my brother and sister, drop them off at my parents house, and go home. I wasn't really in the mood to go out at first, but when it became obvious that I wasn't going to do anything else that evening, I met up with Karen and her friends from class at Cornerstone. Not much to speak of there; I drank some, I bumped into Laura (a girl from my art class), the place got real crowded, Karen's friend Kathleen (sp?) tried to freak dance with me but, as you all know, I do not dance. Paul drove me, Karen, and Kathleen back to our house some time between 1:00 and 2:00. Karen and Kathleen and I stayed up a little longer talking about stuff, then went to bed.
Today I went to my art class and found out that I got an A for the semester. I'm not that surprised, since the teacher liked all the work I did and was always commenting about how hard I worked. All my work is now sitting in my car.
Two weekends ago I went home and did some construction for the garden my brother and I are building for my mom for mothers day. Our back yard is a big hill, and the southwest corner was just dirt. No grass, no nothing. So we build some retaining walls out of railroad ties so we could create a stepped garden. Not having dirt or mulch to put in, however, meant we had to stop there.
Last Friday I went to Art Attack but missed the Gin Blossoms. I don't know if that's a bad thing or not, but Chevelle was better than I thought they would be and Guster was, if nothing else, better than that Bruce Willis CD I have. During Chevelle Tim and I hoisted Paul up to crowd surf after telling him that he should give us his glasses. He didn't, and he lost them. Luckily someone found them and held them up, and Tim saw that and got them back. Tim was the next to go up and had the foresight to give me all his crap first. I was the last to go up, and made it all the way to (and over) the front fence keeping the crowd a few feet back from the stage. Along the way I crossed paths with some girl who was also crowd surfing and she got dumped in my lap. We were carried as one big mass for a while, which was kindof weird. There were also some mosh pits breaking out, which was fun because I like to shove people.
Saturday there was a toga party, and rather than just don a bed sheet I did a little research and figured out how much fabric I would need to do it right. Turns out I needed a piece 18 feet (roughly 3x my height) by 4 or 5 feet, so I went out to the fabric store to get some. Paul came along because he didn't think he had a white bed sheet, but decided to just get 1.5x his height. Why he did that, I don't know; I told him he wanted three times his height but he didn't seem to think I was right. I also picked up 18 feet for Tim. I'm glad I didn't get less than I did, since when I was putting on my toga I had just enough to do it right. Paul was having some trouble putting his on, and when Tim got back he got his on fine. Parker did the whole bed-sheet thing. We got to the party (with the obligatory 40oz bottles of malt liquor) and there were so many red-necks, republicans, military personnel, and die-hard Christians that I had to finish my bottle quick and start a new one, or I wasn't going to be able to have a good time. I still got into a lot of arguments, but at least I was drunk. I lost my drivers license and the $20 bill it was wrapped in, but some nice person found them and returned both. We stumbled back to the house at around 5 and I went to sleep.
Sunday morning I got a call around 10am from my mom asking if I was coming home for breakfast, so I got up, took a shower, and headed home. When I got there my Dad's car was gone, and when I asked where he was my mom told me that he went up to New Jersey because my grandfather was having health trouble again. He had died earlier that morning. I was fairly close with all my grandparents, especially my dads parents (since not only would we see them when we went up to New Jersey where all my grandparents lived, but they would also came down to visit; my moms parents, on the other hand, didn't travel very much) and this all happened so fast that I didn't really know how to react. So my brother and I went to work in the backyard (after all, it still was mother's day) wheelbarrowing mulch and dirt from the huge piles on our driveway to the garden in the backyard, and trimmed some trees in our backyard. I think neither of us really shows our emotions that much, and we were keeping busy, so we didn't end up talking much about it. I think my dad took it pretty hard, and my sister took it even worse.
Monday, after work, I packed my bags and headed home. My sister had driven up from school in Virginia that afternoon, and she and my brother and I were driving up to NJ Tuesday morning. We got to my grandparents house early afternoon and got to visit with our cousins from California whom we rarely get to see. The service was later that afternoon, and a lot of people came, both family and those people who aren't blood related but may as well be. During the service my grandfathers business partner spoke, as did all three of his sons. I was surprised to hear my Dad talk about the McCarthy hearings; my grandfather was discharged from the military as a result of his investigations and wasn't reinstated, despite not actually *being* a communist. I think I understand my families political opinions a lot better now. After the service most of us went back to my grandparents house. It was nice to see so many people I rarely get to see, I just wish it was under better circumstances. I had a nice long conversation with my grandfather's friend Jack Okun about working out. This guy is almost 90 years old and is partially paralyzed from having polio as a child, but he has got to have the best outlook on life out of anybody I know. He's starting to get movement back in his leg which has been more or less dead for most of his life, and I think hearing him talk about lifting weights, considering his age and history, is going to help me keep exercising after my brother and I have this brawl in a month or so. So far I have just been exercising so that I don't wind up getting beat up by my him.
Wednesday afternoon I drive back with my brother and sister, drop them off at my parents house, and go home. I wasn't really in the mood to go out at first, but when it became obvious that I wasn't going to do anything else that evening, I met up with Karen and her friends from class at Cornerstone. Not much to speak of there; I drank some, I bumped into Laura (a girl from my art class), the place got real crowded, Karen's friend Kathleen (sp?) tried to freak dance with me but, as you all know, I do not dance. Paul drove me, Karen, and Kathleen back to our house some time between 1:00 and 2:00. Karen and Kathleen and I stayed up a little longer talking about stuff, then went to bed.
Today I went to my art class and found out that I got an A for the semester. I'm not that surprised, since the teacher liked all the work I did and was always commenting about how hard I worked. All my work is now sitting in my car.
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